


Blue

by CharlieRose324



Category: Teamiplier - Fandom
Genre: Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2018-11-17 05:23:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 54
Words: 27,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11268795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlieRose324/pseuds/CharlieRose324
Summary: Takes place legit right after chapter 1





	1. A Kinda Prologue

Tyler has always been more hesitant than Ethan when it comes to their relationship.  When they started getting closer, Tyler put up a wall to guard his heart, as well as Ethan’s.

 

See, Tyler cares more about Ethan than he ever thought he was capable of caring for someone.  And Tyler knows how much Ethan cares about him as well.  Too much, Tyler thinks.  Ever since the day Mark introduced them, Tyler has been very protective of Ethan.  He’s so much younger than the rest of them, and so much more fragile.  So, Tyler swore to himself that he would make sure nobody ever hurt the little blue boy.  Even if that meant keeping a distance between them.  Because Tyler couldn’t stand the thought of himself being the one to hurt Ethan.

 

The problem is, Ethan didn’t want to stay away.  He wanted Tyler.  Plain and simple.  And Ethan made sure Tyler knew this.  And Tyler made sure that Ethan knew that it wasn’t a good idea.  But, Ethan wasn’t going to give up.  Because Ethan just has this way with Tyler.  It could be a look from across the room.  Or a smile that wasn’t even meant for Tyler.  Even just Ethan messing with that blue hair of his.  All of it.  It made Tyler melt and fall even more in love with him.  So, eventually Tyler just gave in.

 

After filming a video with Mark one day, Tyler and Ethan were the last two left in the room cleaning up.  Ethan started to walk out into the hallway, but Tyler stepped in front of him.

 

Ethan looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.  “What?”

 

There were so many things that Tyler could have said in that moment, but he settled for simply stepping closer and cupping Ethan’s cheek in his hand.  

 

Ethan broke into a smile immediately so, of course, Tyler did as well.

 

“Does this..?  Yeah?  Are we going to..?” Ethan rambled as he took Tyler’s hand off of his face to hold it.

 

“Yeah,” Tyler laughed.  “I can’t turn you down anymore.  I know it was killing both of us.”

 

Ethan grinned and threw himself into Tyler’s arms.  “Finally,” he whispered against Tyler’s chest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place legit right after chapter 1

Tyler hugged Ethan tightly, picking him up off of the ground after a bit.

 

“Do you want to come to my house?” Ethan asked after he was put down.

 

“Eth.  Isn’t it a bit soon for that?” Tyler laughed.

 

“Oh.  Oh, I didn’t mean for that,” Ethan blushed slightly.  “Just to hang out.  Watch a movie… Play a game..?”

 

“Yeah.  Yeah, that sounds good.”

 

Ethan grinned.  “Okay!  Okay, good.  I’ll meet you there?”

 

“I’ll meet you there,” Tyler smiled as Ethan left the room.

 

Tyler went back to finish cleaning up.  As he was about finished, Mark came back in.

 

“What’s with Ethan?”

 

“What do you mean?” Tyler chuckled.

 

“I stopped him on his way out to talk for a minute, and he couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot.”

 

“Oh.  That.  Yeah.  I finally told him we could give it a go,” Tyler nodded.

 

Mark raised both eyebrows.  “Really?  It’s about goddamn time!”

 

Tyler rolled his eyes.

 

“Seriously.  Good for you guys, man,” Mark patted Tyler on the back.

 

“Yeah.  I’m still not so sure about it.”

 

Mark sat up on the kitchen counter.  “Why’s that?”

 

“I just don’t know if I can really make him happy in the long run.  He’s still so young.  Hasn’t had that much life experience.  He thinks he wants this now, but who’s to say how he’ll feel even in just a year?”

 

“You won’t know until you try.”

 

“I know,” Tyler sighed.  “But what if something changes and I’m the one who doesn’t feel the same way after a while?  I think that would hurt more than Ethan leaving me.  I could never hurt him, Mark.”

 

“I know.  And you won’t know for sure what’s going to happen in the future, but I do know for sure that neither of you have benefitted from not being together.  So, I think it’s worth the try.”

 

Tyler shrugged.  “I guess so.”

 

“You love him, don’t you?” Mark smiled softly.

 

“Yeah.  Yeah, I do.  Somehow that stupid little blue boy has stolen my even more stupid heart, and I don’t think I’m getting it back any time soon,” Tyler laughed.

 

“Well.  If you love him, then that’s all that should matter right now.”

 

Tyler nodded.  “Yeah, I guess.  I should go.  I’m going to his place.”

 

“Don’t keep him waiting,” Mark winked.

 

Tyler rolled his eyes and playfully punched Mark’s shoulder as he walked by him to leave.

 

* * *

 

Ethan opened the door for Tyler a while later, his blue hair still damp from taking a shower.  “Hi.  Come in!”

 

Tyler followed Ethan into the living room and sat down on the couch with him.

 

“Do you want to pick out a movie?  Or we could play Mario Kart or something?” Ethan asked

 

“I could go for a movie.  You can pick.”

 

Ethan turned on a movie and leaned back on the couch.  Tyler moved closer to him and put his arm around his waist.  Ethan immediately cuddled into Tyler’s side and laid his head on his chest.

 

Tyler watched the screen and rubbed Ethan’s back gently as the movie played.  About halfway through, Tyler looked down to see that Ethan had fallen asleep.  He smiled softly and kept rubbing his back until the movie was over.

 

“Ethan…  Wake up,” Tyler whispered.

 

Ethan whined softly and looked up at him, instantly smiling when he remembered that Tyler was there with him.

 

“I should go so you can sleep more.”

 

Ethan pouted at him.  “I don’t want you to go.  Stay with me?”

 

Tyler sighed and ran his fingers through Ethan’s hair.  “I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because.  Just not tonight, Eth.”

 

“Okay…” Ethan yawned.  “I’ll see you tomorrow at Mark’s, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Tyler stood up and stretched his back.

 

Ethan stood up on the couch to hug him tightly.

 

Tyler smiled and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy again.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“See you tomorrow.”


	3. Chapter 3

Before they started filming at Mark’s the next day, Ethan and Tyler found their way to each other.

 

“So, I have a thought,” Ethan stood in front of him.

 

“That’s dangerous,” Tyler teased.

 

“I want you to move in with me.”

 

Tyler frowned.  “Ethan… That’s way too soon.”

 

“It’s not!  We’ve lived together before.”

 

“Yeah, and it was hard enough to keep my hands off of you then.”

 

Ethan poked his side and winked.  “Well, now you don’t have to.”

 

“Eth, we don’t want to move things along too fast and mess it all up,” Tyler sighed.

 

“But, it’s not moving fast!  Come on, Ty.  It’s making up for lost time since we would have been together for like a million years by now if it wasn’t for you ‘keeping your distance.’”

 

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea yet.”

 

“Please?” Ethan pouted.  “We can have separate bedrooms and everything if it would make you feel better…”

 

“You’re evil, you know that?  Using that pout against me,” Tyler wrapped his arms around Ethan’s waist.

 

“I know,” Ethan smirked and put his hands on Tyler’s arms.  “So, it’s working?”

 

“I’ll think about it.  How about that?”

 

“Deal.”

 

Tyler looked down at him for a couple of seconds.  “Okay, I thought about it.  You win.”

 

Ethan giggled.  “You can’t resist me.”

 

“I can’t.  Now shut up before I change my mind,” Tyler laughed as Mark yelled for them from the kitchen.  Tyler scooped Ethan up and carried him over his shoulder to the kitchen and sat him down on the counter.  “What are we making today?”

 

* * *

 

“So. I was thinking,” Tyler walked out of Mark’s house with Ethan later that day.  “Maybe before we jump into me moving in, I should spend the night first.”

 

Ethan nodded slowly.  “Okay.  That’s not a bad idea.”

 

Tyler smiled.  “I’ll go pack some stuff and meet you there.”

 

* * *

 

Tyler went and quickly packed a small duffel bag before heading to Ethan’s place.

 

Ethan was waiting at the door when Tyler got there.

 

Tyler shook his head, laughing, as he walked up to the door.  “Impatient much?”

 

“Very impatient,” Ethan let Tyler in and shut the door.  “What do you wanna do?”

 

“Another movie?”

 

“And cuddles?” Ethan sat on the couch.

 

“Well, duh,” Tyler threw his duffel bag on the floor and sat next to him, instantly wrapping his arms around Ethan.

 

Ethan hugged Tyler tightly and closed his eyes.  “Or we could just cuddle without the movie.”

 

Tyler laughed.

 

Ethan smiled and looked up at him.  “So…  Are you going to sleep out here on the couch tonight?  Or…”  he asked, biting his lip.

 

“Where would you like me to sleep?”

 

“With me,” Ethan laid his head back on Tyler’s chest.

 

Tyler sighed quietly.  “Okay.”

 

“Really?” Ethan sat up excitedly.

 

“Yeah.  If that’s what you want.”

 

Ethan laughed.  “I thought for sure you would say no.”

 

Tyler ruffled Ethan’s hair.  “I guess I’m just tired of saying no to you when I really want to be saying yes.”

 

“I’m glad you’re saying yes now.”

 

“Me too,” Tyler smiled.

 

Ethan yawned.  “If you want, we could go get in bed and watch a movie in there.”

 

“Sounds good.  As long as you don’t fall asleep halfway through again,” Tyler teased as he stood up and held out his hand.

 

Ethan took his hand and stood up, yawning again.  “No promises.”

 

Tyler grabbed his duffel bag and changed into his pajamas in the bathroom before meeting Ethan in his bedroom.

 

Ethan was already situated in bed when Tyler came into the room and climbed into the bed with him.

 

Ethan turned a movie on and cuddled up to Tyler.

 

Tyler wrapped his arm around him and kissed the top of his head.

 

“I could really get used to this,” Ethan rubbed Tyler’s side.

 

“Yeah,” Tyler hugged Ethan closer to him.

 

“Can we just forget this movie and go to sleep?”

 

Tyler laughed.  “Fine by me.”

 

Ethan got up and turned the movie off as well as the lights before getting back into bed.

 

Tyler held out his arms and Ethan moved right back into them.

 

“I’ve never shared a bed with someone like this,” Ethan said quietly.

 

“Neither have I.  Not like this,” Tyler rested his hand on Ethan’s back.

 

“Can I try something?” 

 

“Hm?”

 

Ethan put his hand on Tyler’s cheek and leaned up to kiss him softly.

 

Tyler laughed quietly after pulling away a few seconds later.

 

“Oh, god.  It was bad, wasn’t it?” Ethan covered his face with his hands.

 

Tyler laughed again and took both of Ethan’s hands in one of his own.  “No.  Eth, no.  It was perfect.”

 

“You’re just saying that.”

 

“I’m not!  Come here,” Tyler squeezed Ethan’s hands gently and kissed him again.

 

Ethan closed his eyes and kissed him back.

 

“See?” Tyler said after pulling away.

 

“Okay.  Okay, yeah.”

 

Tyler smiled and let go of his hands to hug Ethan’s body closer to him again. 

 

“You’re not gonna do it again?” Ethan pouted.

 

“Not tonight.  We should sleep.”

 

“Please?”

 

Tyler kissed him one more quick time.  “Now go to sleep, Blue.”

 

Ethan yawned into Tyler’s chest.  “Yeah.  Okay.”

 

“Good night, Eth,” Tyler said softly as Ethan quickly drifted off to sleep.  “Sweet dreams.  I know mine will be.”  


	4. Chapter 4

Tyler finished moving the last of his things into Ethan’s place a few days later.

 

“That’s all of it, right?” Ethan flopped onto the couch.

 

“That’s all of it,” Tyler laid down on the floor.

 

“Finally,” Ethan rolled off of the couch and laid on top of Tyler.

 

Tyler wrapped one arm around him, and ran his other hand through Ethan’s hair.  “You look exhausted.”

 

“I was up really late editing,” Ethan closed his eyes.

 

“Yeah, I noticed.  I tried to wait up for you, but I guess I fell asleep.”

 

“It’s okay,” Ethan yawned and sat down on the floor.  “I’m hungry.”

 

“Want me to make lunch?”

 

Ethan shook his head as he stood up.  “I can do it.”

 

“Sure?” Tyler stood up with him.

 

“Yeah.  You could sit in the kitchen to keep me company, though.”   
  


“Cool,” Tyler followed him to the kitchen and sat down.

 

“Um… Grilled cheese okay?”

 

Tyler nodded and watched as Ethan grabbed all of the ingredients and smiled when he started to sing as he worked.  “Do you always sing when you cook?”

 

Ethan nodded.  “And not just when I’m cooking.  I sing a lot”

 

“You’re good at it.”

 

Ethan shrugged.

 

“Do you take requests?” Tyler teased.  

 

Ethan rolled his eyes.  “Depends.”

 

“Hm,” Tyler nodded as he thought.  “You lucked out.  I can’t think of any.”

 

Ethan shook his head and started singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.”

 

Tyler smiled as he watched him.  “I sure can’t,” he said quietly when Ethan finished the song.

 

Ethan blushed slightly as he plated their food and put it on the table.  “Yeah.  I know the feeling.”

 

“I’m sorry I made us wait so long.”

 

“It is what it is now.”

 

Tyler nodded slowly.  “Let’s eat.  This looks like the best grilled cheese ever.”

 

* * *

 

“So… You love me?” Ethan asked as they cuddled on the couch later that night.

 

“Is that even a question?” Tyler stroked his hair.

 

“Well.  I mean.  Yeah.  I knew you care about me a whole hell of a lot.  But I didn’t think you’d use the ‘L’ word.”

 

“Should I not have said it?”

 

“No!  Wait.  I mean.  Yeah.  I mean.  I don’t know,” Ethan shook his head.  “I’m glad you said it.  Cause I feel that way too.  I just didn’t know if it was okay to say it yet.”

 

Tyler shrugged.  “Like you said.  We should have been together for like a billion years by now.  I sure as hell hope I would have said it before right now.”

 

Ethan laughed and sat up so he could look at Tyler.

 

Tyler cupped Ethan’s face in his hands.  “I love you, Ethan.”

 

“I love you too.”

 

Tyler smirked and kissed him deeply.

 

Ethan pulled away after a minute and laid back down on Tyler’s chest.  

 

Tyler went back to running his fingers through Ethan’s hair.

 

“This all just feels so right,” Ethan grinned.

 

“It is.  This is exactly where I want to be.”

 

“Good.  I love you.  Wow.  I’m never going to get tired of saying that.”

 

Tyler smiled and kissed his forehead.  “I love you too, baby.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place about a month after the previous chapter :)

“Hey, Eth.  Mark just texted and asked if we want to go to dinner with him, Amy, and Kathryn tonight,” Tyler called to Ethan from the living room.

 

“Sure!” Ethan yelled back.

 

“5:30 okay?”

 

“Umm…  Yeah!  Sounds good!”

 

Tyler got up and went to where Ethan was working on editing his video.  “Hey.  Do you want some coffee?”

 

Ethan looked up and smiled.  “Yeah.  I'm actually almost done with this.  Just give me a minute and I'll come sit with you.”

 

“Cool,” Tyler went and started brewing the coffee.

 

Ethan joined him in the kitchen a few minutes later and Tyler handed him a mug.  “Mm.  Thanks.”

 

“Do you want to take these to the living room and play Mario Kart?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Both of them went to the living room, sat on the couch, and turned on the game.

 

“Who are you going to be today?” Tyler asked.

 

“Hm.  Baby Daisy.”

 

Tyler laughed.

 

“Hey.  Don't laugh.  Baby Daisy’s gonna kick your ass.”

 

“In your dreams.”

 

* * *

 

Later that evening, Tyler and Ethan met Mark, Amy, and Kathryn at a restaurant.

 

Towards the end of the meal, Tyler looked over at Ethan.  “Hey.  Eth.  You okay?”

 

Ethan shook his head.

 

“Is it..?  Shit,” Tyler looked around and saw that at the next table over a little girl had a bag of peanuts open.  “Dammit.  Where's your epi pen?”

 

Ethan pointed to the door.

 

“Dammit, Ethan!  Why would you leave it in the car!?” Tyler said as he scooted out of the booth.  He dashed to the car, pushing people out of the way as he ran.

 

Amy called 911 as Mark started to move Ethan out of the booth.

 

Tyler ran back to the table and immediately gave Ethan the shot.  “Someone called an ambulance, right?”

 

“They're on their way,” Amy hung up the phone.

 

Tyler scooped Ethan up, went outside with everyone, and sat down on the curb.  “You'll be okay.  An ambulance is coming to get you to the hospital.”

  
The paramedics got there a couple of minutes later.  They took Ethan and got him into the ambulance right as he lost consciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

Tyler, Mark, Amy, and Kathryn got to the hospital a little bit after the ambulance.

 

Tyler ran up to the desk with Mark.  “Hi.  My…  My friend.  He was just brought here by ambulance.  He had a really bad allergic reaction.  I need to know if he's okay.”

 

“What's his name?”

 

“Ethan Schei- Nestor.  Sorry.  Ethan Nestor.”

 

“Okay.  We’ll let you know when we know anything.”

 

“Thanks,” Tyler went with Mark to sit down.

 

“You called him Ethan Scheid…” Mark looked at Tyler.

 

“I don't know what I was thinking,” Tyler buried his face in his hands and rested his elbows on his knees.

 

“I think you do know.”

 

“I don't want to do this right now, Mark.”

 

“He'll be okay, Tyler.”

 

“You don't know that!” Tyler dropped his hands.  “I saw him lose consciousness.  I've never been more scared in my life,” he shook his head.

 

Mark put his hand on Tyler's knee.

 

A while later, a nurse came over to them.  “You two are here for Ethan?”

 

Tyler stood up. “Is he okay?”

 

“He's stable.  He hasn't regained consciousness yet, but he should soon.”

 

“Can we see him?  Please?  I… We need to be there when he wakes up.”

 

The nurse nodded and led them to Ethan's room.

 

“Oh my god,” Tyler said as he sat next to the bed where Ethan was hooked up to multiple tubes and monitors.  “Ethan…” he wiped his eyes when they started to tear up.

 

Mark stood next to Tyler and hugged his shoulders.

 

“I was going to propose to him today,” Tyler sniffled.

 

“Oh my god,” Mark said.

 

“I know.  It seems soon.  But I've never been so sure of anything.”

 

“Wow.”

 

Tyler nodded and took Ethan's hand.

 

Amy and Kathryn came into the room.  “We called his parents.  They'll be here as soon as they can.”

 

“Good,” Tyler nodded.

 

“Did we miss anything?”

 

Tyler shook his head.  “He should wake up soon.”

 

* * *

 

Ethan's eyelids fluttered open a little while later.  “Tyler?”

 

Tyler sat up.  “I'm here.  I'm right here.”

 

Ethan whined and looked over at him.

 

“You're okay,”  Tyler took his hand and kissed it.

 

“God, I hate peanuts,” Ethan chuckled softly.

  
“Me too, Eth.  Me too.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place 2 days after the previous chapter

Tyler walked by Mark in the hallway of the hospital.  “Hey.  Dude.  I figured out how to propose.  I'm gonna do it today.”

 

“Hey!  Good for you, man!”

 

“Are you okay staying with him while I go get some things?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Thank you,” Tyler hugged him and ran down the hallway.

 

* * *

 

Tyler walked back into the hospital room a bit later carrying a large gift bag.

 

“That's my cue to go,” Mark hugged Ethan and then left, winking at Tyler as he passed him.

 

Ethan smiled up at Tyler.  “Hi.  I missed you.”

 

“I missed you too,” Tyler leaned down and kissed him quickly before sitting down by the bed.

 

“What's in the bag?”

 

“A present.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“You'll see.  Be patient.  Just sit with me for a bit,” Tyler held his hand.

 

Ethan rolled his eyes.

 

“Are you feeling any better today?”

 

Ethan nodded.  “Doctor said I should be able to go home tomorrow.”

 

“That's amazing, baby,” Tyler kissed his hand.  “I love you.  So much.”

 

“I know.  I love you too.”

 

“I'm so glad you're okay.”

 

Ethan smiled.  “I couldn't leave you.”

 

“Don't you dare ever come close again.  I was so scared.  Losing you would be the worst thing that could possibly happen to me.”

 

“Ty…”

 

“No, listen to me.  I love you so fucking much, Ethan.  Which is why I got you this,” Tyler pulled a Build-a-Bear out of the gift bag and handed it to him.

 

Ethan laughed.  “Aww.  It's so cute!  I love it!  Thank you.”

 

“Press its hand.”

 

“Oh, it's got a sound in it,” Ethan smiled and squeezed the bear’s hand, and a recording of Tyler's voice started playing:  

‘Ethan Mark Nestor.  I love you more than anything in this universe.  Will you marry me?’


	8. Chapter 8

Tyler pulled a ring out of his pocket and held it out.  “Please?”

 

Ethan looked at him with his mouth hanging open.  “Um.  Ty…  Are you sure we're ready for this?”

 

“I've never been more ready for anything.”

 

Ethan bit his lip and stared at the ring.

 

“Ethan?”

 

“What if I'm not ready?”

 

“Then say no.”

 

Ethan frowned.  “Just give me a second.”

 

“Even if you say yes, we don't have to get married right away, babe.”

 

Ethan nodded slowly.  “Yeah.  Yeah.  Yes.  Oh my god I'm saying yes.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yes.  Yes.  I want to marry you, Tyler.”

 

Tyler leaned down and kissed him.

 

Ethan cupped Tyler's face with both of his hands.

 

“Mm,” Tyler pulled away.  “I love you.”

 

Ethan held out his left hand and winked at Tyler playfully.

 

“You're the fucking cutest,” Tyler kissed his hand and put the ring on his finger.  

 

Ethan looked closely at it.  “Damn.  This is beautiful.”

 

“I'm glad you like it.”

 

“I do.  I love it.  I love you.”

 

Tyler pushed Ethan's hair back out of his face.  “And, as we've established, I love you.”

  
“Just one  _ tiny  _ problem,” Ethan fidgeted with the ring.  “My family doesn't know we're together.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Wait,” Tyler sat back.  “You haven't told them about us at all?”

 

“Well.  They live so far away, and I wanted to tell them in person.  But I never see them...”

 

“Okay…”

 

“I'll tell them, Ty.  Today.  They should be here soon.”

 

“Okay,” Tyler held Ethan's hand.

 

* * *

 

Ethan's family came back from the hospital cafeteria a little while later.

 

“Oh, Tyler, honey.  You're still here,” Ethan's mom said.

 

Tyler nodded.  “I don't have much better to do.  But I'll give you guys some space.”

 

“You don't have to go.”

 

“I do,” Tyler stood up.  “I should probably get some food anyway.”

 

Ethan's mom smiled.  “Thank you for keeping him company.”

 

“Of course.  I'll see you later, guys,” Tyler left.

 

Ethan's mom sat down where Tyler had been sitting.  “What a nice guy.  He seems like a good friend.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “He is.”

 

“Has he been here the entire time?”

 

“Pretty much.  He left for a little while earlier.  But I think that's the only time he hasn't been here.”

 

“How nice.”

 

Ethan smiled.

 

“So.  Tell us how things have been besides this.  Have you met any nice girls yet?”

 

“Well.  I've met several nice girls…”

 

“Anyone special?”

 

“Yeah,” Ethan nodded.  “There's someone very special, actually.”

 

“Oh!  When can we meet her!?  Why hasn't she been here at all?”

 

“Um.  You actually have met _him._ He just left…”

 

Ethan's mom frowned.  “What do you mean?”

 

“It's Tyler, Mom.  He's…  We've been together for a while.”

 

“...oh.  That's wonderful, honey.”

 

Ethan nodded and held out his left hand.  “We're getting married, actually.  He proposed today.”

 

“Married!?”

 

“I…  Yeah.”

 

“When were you going to tell us?”

 

“Next time I saw you in person,” Ethan bit his lip.  “Which happens to be now.”

 

Ethan's mom shook her head and stood up to start pacing the room.

 

Ethan's grandmother went to sit by him.  “Oh, honey, it's a beautiful ring.”

 

“It is,” Ethan smiled a little bit.

 

“Tyler is a very lucky man.”

 

“I think I'm the lucky one.  I’d be dead right now if it wasn't for him.”

 

Ethan's grandmother smiled and held his hand.

 

“Mom..?” Ethan looked up at her.

 

“What, Ethan?”

 

“Is it because it's a guy?”

 

Ethan's mom sighed.  “Of course not.  It's just.  The whole thing.  I don't know how I feel about it.”

 

“Well.  I don't know what to tell you.  I love him.  He loves me.  And that's all that matters to me.  And that's all that should matter to you.”

 

“Of course.  It's just not what I would choose for you.”

 

“It's a good thing it's my life then,” Ethan grabbed his phone and texted Tyler to come back to the hospital.

 

* * *

 

Tyler was back up in the hospital room a couple minutes later.

 

Ethan looked up.  “That was fast.”

 

“Yeah.  I never left…” Tyler bit his lip.

 

Ethan patted the bed.  “Come sit with me.”

 

Tyler smiled and sat on the bed with him.

 

Ethan leaned on his shoulder.

 

Tyler instinctively kissed the top of his head and put his arm around him.

 

Ethan's mom stopped pacing and looked at them.  “Do you two... have sex?”

 

“Mom!” Ethan glared at her.

 

“I'm sorry.  It's just something I need to know.”

 

“No!  No, it's not!  It is not something you need to know or ask me.  Ever,” Ethan huffed.  “But, for the record, no.  We haven't.”

 

“Eth…” Tyler whispered.

 

“It's fine,” Ethan sighed.

 

“So, Ethan tells me you saved his life,” Ethan's grandmother said to Tyler after minute of silence.

 

“Did he now?” Tyler laughed.  “Well, I mean.  He forgot his epi pen in the car and I had to get it.  That was it.”

 

“If you had been just a couple seconds slower, I would have died,” Ethan said.  “The doctor said so.”

 

“Fuck, really?”

 

Ethan nodded.

 

“Maybe we should get a spare epi pen for me to keep in my pocket in case you forget yours again.”

 

Ethan shrugged.  “Maybe that's not a bad idea.”

 

“Do you two live together?” Ethan's grandmother asked.

 

Tyler nodded.  “I moved into his place about a month ago.”

 

“How is that going?”

 

Tyler looked at Ethan.  “Really well.”

 

“It is.  It's been great,” Ethan smiled.

 

“That's wonderful,” Ethan's grandmother smiled.  “I'm so happy for you two.”

 

Tyler kissed Ethan's head again.  “We couldn't be happier.”


	10. Chapter 10

Tyler brought Ethan home the next day.

 

“I need to shower.  I smell like hospital,” Ethan grunted.

 

“Okay.  I'll make something to eat.”

 

“Wait.  Can you come sit in the bathroom with me?  Just in case I need help?”

 

“Of course, babe,” Tyler smiled.  “Do you need me to carry you there?”

 

Ethan nodded.  “I'm  _ so  _ weak from being in the hospital,” he pouted.

 

“Aww.  Baby,” Tyler wrapped his arms around him and kissed him.

 

Ethan hugged Tyler's neck and kissed back.

 

Tyler pulled away.  “Mm.  Haven't been able to do that for a while.”

 

“Felt nice.  But it'll be even better if we do it again after I shower.”

 

Tyler picked him up carefully and carried him into the bathroom. 

 

Ethan stripped down and turned on the water.  “Do you just want to shower with me?”

 

Tyler shrugged.  “Sure.”

 

“Okay,” Ethan stepped into the shower.

 

Tyler stripped down and joined him.  “We've never done this before.”

 

Ethan shook his head and got his hair wet.  “Well.  There's a first time for everything.”

 

“Here.  Let me wash your hair for you,” Tyler picked up the shampoo.

 

“Okay.”

 

Tyler poured some of the shampoo in his hands and worked it through Ethan's hair.

 

Ethan closed his eyes and leaned against Tyler.  “I sure hope my mom comes around to all of this.”

 

“She will, baby,” Tyler took the showerhead and carefully rinsed Ethan's hair 

 

“Eventually.”

 

Tyler nodded and washed the rest of Ethan's body for him.

 

“Thanks for doing this.”

 

“Pfft.  You don't even have to be sick for me to shower you if you asked me to,” Tyler quickly showered himself and turned the water off.  He then grabbed a towel and dried Ethan off before drying himself.

 

“I think today is a pajamas in bed kind of day,” Ethan yawned.

 

“Sounds good to me,” Tyler kissed his forehead and went out into the bedroom with him.

 

They both got their pajamas on, and Ethan climbed into bed.

 

“You hungry?” Tyler asked. 

 

“Not really.  I just wanna turn on a movie and cuddle.”

 

“Okay,” Tyler got in bed with him and put his arm around him as he turned on the tv.  “What are you in the mood for?”

 

“Don't care,” Ethan laid on his side and hugged Tyler tightly.

 

Tyler turned one on and then leaned down to kiss Ethan softly.

 

“Mm,” Ethan closed his eyes.

 

Tyler held Ethan's hip and kissed deeper.

 

Ethan cupped his cheek.

 

Tyler gently pushed Ethan onto his back before straddling him to kiss him again.

 

“Oh,” Ethan kissed back.

 

Tyler ran his fingers through Ethan's hair.

 

Ethan pulled away.  “Ty…  I can't.”

 

Tyler sat back.  “Yeah.  Yeah, maybe we should have that conversation…”

 

Ethan nodded.

 

Tyler moved off of him and wrapped his arm around him again.

 

“So…”

 

“So,” Tyler kissed his head.

 

“I don't know.  I'm just not ready.”

 

“That's okay.  There's no rush.  For any of this.  I shouldn't have done that just now.”

 

“No, that's fine.  I just don't want to go any further than that.”

 

Tyler nodded.  “Okay.”

 

Ethan bit his lip and blushed bright red.

 

“What's wrong, Eth?”

 

“Nothing.  I don't know.  I guess I'm just scared about that…  whole thing.”

 

“Yeah.  I mean, I am too.  Neither of us have done this before.  It'll be something we'll have to learn and experience together.  When we're both ready, of course.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “I'm just afraid I'll never be ready for that aspect of this.”

 

“And that's okay, baby,” Tyler held his hand.  “It's definitely not my top priority.”

 

“Okay…”

 

“Ethan.  Don't worry about it.  We don't even have to talk about this anymore, okay?”

 

Ethan nodded and hugged him.

 

Tyler hugged him tightly.  “I love you so much.”

 

“I love you too,” Ethan laid his head on his chest.

  
“And I'm so glad you're home safe with me now.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short-ish chapter today. My idea for this chapter didn't quite work out in the way I wanted it to.

Mark came over to Tyler and Ethan's place a few days later, and Tyler let him in.

 

“Hey,” Tyler said quietly.  “Come in.  Ethan's actually asleep on the couch.  But, you can come into the kitchen while I make lunch.”

 

“Sure,” Mark peeked into the living room where Ethan was fast asleep under a blanket, cuddling the Build-a-Bear he got from Tyler.  “So, he's still not back to normal?”

 

Tyler shook his head as he walked into the kitchen with Mark.  “He's just exhausted.  He's been napping twice a day.  It's kind of sad because he tries so hard to stay awake, but he just can't.”

 

“Poor guy,” Mark sat down.

 

“Yeah.  I've been trying to get him back into a routine, but,” Tyler shrugged.

 

“By the way, how did the proposal go?  I haven't seen you guys since then.”

 

“I said yes,” Ethan said with a yawn as he shuffled into the kitchen, still wrapped up in his blanket.

 

“Congratulations, guys.  I couldn't be happier for you two,” Mark grinned.

 

Tyler smiled.  “What do you guys want to eat?”

 

* * *

 

“Aww.  This is cute,” Mark picked up Ethan's Build-a-Bear off of the couch after they'd finished eating and moved into the living room.

 

Ethan took it from him.  “It's my proposal bear,” he pressed the bear’s hand.

 

“Oh my god, that is the fucking cutest thing I've ever seen,” Mark sat down.  “Nice job, Tyler.”

 

Tyler chuckled and sat on the couch.  “Thanks.”

 

Ethan sat in Tyler's lap and hugged the bear.  “I've slept with it every night since he gave it to me.”

 

“Yeah.  You don't cuddle with me anymore.  You just cuddle the fucking bear,” Tyler poked his side.

 

Ethan giggled.

 

“I should have given you something else.”

 

“No!  I like the bear.  It's so cute and fluffy and I love it so much.”

 

Tyler kissed his cheek.

 

“Game time now?” Ethan put the bear down.

 

“What are we playing?” Mark asked.

 

“Mario Party.”

 

Tyler rolled his eyes.

 

“What was that?” Mark laughed.

 

“We've been playing this all the time,” Tyler grabbed the controllers.

 

“It's fun!” Ethan turned the game on.

  
“If you say so, baby.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet chapter today :)

After three rounds of Mario Party, Ethan fell asleep on Tyler's lap.

 

“Poor thing,” Mark leaned back on the couch.

 

Tyler nodded as he stroked Ethan's hair.  “This is our routine now.”

 

“When will he be back to normal?”

 

“Not sure,” Tyler sighed.  “He's lucky he's even alive.  The doctor said his heart actually stopped in the ambulance.”

 

“Oh my god.  Seriously?” Mark put his hand on Ethan's knee.

 

Tyler chuckled.  “Crazy, right?  I just.  There aren't words for this.  It puts things into perspective.  That's for sure.”

 

Mark nodded.

 

“I love him so much.”

 

“I know.  And I know he feels the same.”

  
“I can never take another second with him for granted.  Life is far too short to waste time not being with the people you love.”


	13. Chapter 13

“Are you sure it's a good idea for you to be going out right now?” Tyler followed Ethan around as he got ready.

 

“I told you, Ty.  I'm better now.  I think I can handle going to a movie with a friend.”

 

“I'm just worried.  You're still not back to normal.”

 

Ethan sighed and got his shoes on.

 

“Fine.  Just be careful, okay?  And call me right away if you feel even a little off.  And don't stay out too late.  And-”

 

“Oh my god, Tyler!  Stop!” Ethan stood up.

 

“I'm just-”

 

“No!  Stop!  You aren't my dad!  Stop acting like it!” Ethan pushed past him to get into the bathroom to fix his hair.

 

“I'm just trying to protect you, Ethan.”

 

“You're not!  You always do shit like this.  You're trying to control me!”

 

Tyler huffed.  “I am not!  I'm looking after you.  Exactly like I promised to.”

 

“I don't need you to look after me!  I don't need you to protect me!  I am a fucking adult!”

 

“Ethan, you almost died last month!  And you sure as hell would have if I wasn't there.”

 

“Oh.  Wow.  You're going there,” Ethan pushed past him again and went out into the living room.

 

“You're damn right I'm bringing that up,” Tyler followed him.  “You may be ‘technically’ an adult.  But you aren't, Ethan.  You're still a kid.  And sometimes you need someone there to watch over you.”

 

“You know who doesn't treat me like a kid?  Mark.  Not when it counts.  So, maybe I'll go there after the movie instead of here.”

 

“Don't you dare bring Mark into this.”

 

“Why?  Cause you're jealous?”

 

“I am not jealous of Mark!”

 

“You so are!” Ethan laughed.  “You don't even know.  The looks you give him when he even comes near me…”

 

“I.  Am.  Not.  Jealous.  Of.  Mark!”

 

Ethan shook his head and took his ring off and shoved it into Tyler's hand.  “You know.  You're right.  A kid like me shouldn't be getting married.”

 

“Ethan…”

 

Ethan left and slammed the door.


	14. Chapter 14

Amy opened the door for Ethan after he knocked.  “Oh my god.  Sweetie, what happened?” she asked as Ethan started crying.

 

“Me an’ Tyler had a fight,” Ethan sniffled.  “Can I stay the night here?”

 

“Of course you can.  Come in,” Amy let him in the house and shut the door.  “Mark!  Come here!”

 

Mark came out of the kitchen.  “Ethan?  What's wrong?”

 

“He and Tyler had a fight,” Amy wrapped her arm around Ethan and led him to the couch.

 

“What happened?” Mark sat down on the other side of Ethan.

 

“He treats me like a fucking baby,” Ethan wiped his eyes and told them about the fight.

 

Mark hugged Ethan as he started sobbing.

 

Amy stroked his hair.

 

“It's okay…” Mark calmed him down.  “It'll all be okay.  I know how he can be with you.  I've seen it.”

 

Ethan sniffed and nodded.

 

“And you and I both know he's so protective because of how much he loves you.”

 

“Doesn't make it okay.”

 

“I know.  It doesn't.  But he has good intentions.”

 

“I know…”

 

Mark wiped Ethan's eyes.  “Tomorrow you need to tell him how you feel about it when you're both not angry.”

 

Ethan nodded and leaned on Mark's shoulder.  “I hate this.”

 

Mark rubbed his back.  “It'll pass.”

 

“I'm afraid he'll be really mad when I go back home.”

 

“There's nothing to worry about if you just explain to him how you feel.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

“He'll understand, Ethan.  He loves you so much.  And this little fight won't change that.”

  
“I love him too.”


	15. Chapter 15

Later that night, Ethan went back home and walked through the door.

 

Tyler looked up from where he was sitting on the couch.  “Ethan…” he stood up.  “I didn't think you'd come back tonight.”

 

Ethan kicked his shoes off.  “Yeah…  I talked with Mark and Amy for a while and then tried to sleep.  But, I couldn't knowing how things were left between us.”

 

Tyler nodded and sat back down.

 

Ethan sat next to him.

 

“I-” Tyler started to say before Ethan stopped him.

 

“No.  Me first,” Ethan stared at the floor.  “First of all, I'm sorry for how I acted.  It wasn't the right way to handle things.  In fact, it was pretty childish.”

 

“Eth…”

 

Ethan shook his head.  “I just need you to understand how frustrating it is when you basically tell me what to do all the time.  Like.  I moved into this apartment so I could finally actually feel like an adult, but now it's like living with parents again.  And it shouldn't feel like that.  We're in a relationship where we're supposed to be equals, and I don't feel like we're equals.”

 

Tyler nodded slowly.  “Yeah, I thought a lot while you were gone.  I see where you're coming from.  I really do.  And I'm so sorry for making you feel that way, Ethan.”

 

“I know your intentions are good.  And I like that you're there to protect me.  But, I just need you to step back a little.”

 

Tyler nodded again.  “I know.  I will.  I love you so much, baby.  Oh.  Should I not call you that anymore?”

 

Ethan laughed.  “No, you can still call me baby.  I like it,” he moved over and hugged Tyler tightly.  “And I love you too.”

 

Tyler kissed the top of his head.  “Hey…  Do you, by chance, want this back?” he held out the ring.

 

Ethan giggled.  “Yeah.  I really would.”

 

Tyler smiled and put it back on Ethan's finger before kissing his hand.

 

Ethan leaned up and took Tyler's face in both of his hands to kiss him.

 

Tyler held him tighter as he kissed back.

 

Ethan pulled away and leaned their foreheads together.  “I love you, Tyler.”

 

Tyler smiled and pulled Ethan onto his lap to kiss him deeper.

 

Ethan leaned back after a while, panting slightly.  “Ty, I think I'm ready…”

 

“So am I,” Tyler picked him up and carried him to the bedroom.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna apologize in advance for this chapter...

“Tell me again why we waited this long to do this?” Ethan said as he put his clothes back on.

 

Tyler laid on his back and stared at the ceiling.

 

“Babe?”

 

Tyler looked up.  “Oh.  Sorry.  What did you say?” he got dressed.

 

Ethan laughed and stretched.  “Never mind.”

 

Tyler sat on the end of the bed.  “You're beautiful.”

 

“Yeah, whatever,” Ethan went over to his dresser and went through the top drawer.

 

“You are.”

 

Ethan winked at him and dug through the drawer.  “Ah!  Found it.”

 

“What are you doing?” Tyler laughed.

 

Ethan went and sat next to him.  “I felt bad that I had a ring and you didn't, so I got this for you,” he held out a silver ring that had a line of sapphires down the middle.

 

“Oh, Ethan.  You didn't have to do that.”

 

“I know.  Do you like it?  It's blue.  Like me.”

 

Tyler chuckled as his eyes teared up.  “Yeah.  I see that.  I love it.”

 

“Oh my god.  Are you crying?”

 

“No!” Tyler wiped his eyes.

 

Ethan moved into his lap and kissed him softly.

 

Tyler hugged him tightly.  “It's perfect.  Just like you.”

 

“I'm not perfect,” Ethan chuckled and put the ring on Tyler's finger.

 

“You are to me,” Tyler kissed his forehead.

 

* * *

 

“What are you two girls giggling about?” Mark asked Ethan and Tyler when the walked into the office holding hands the next morning.

 

“Nothing,” Tyler shook his head.

 

Mark looked at Ethan.  “You.  You're blushing.”

 

Ethan gasped jokingly.  “I am not!”

 

“Seriously.  What is so funny?” Mark looked between them.  “ _Oh._ ”

 

Ethan giggled.

 

“You guys didn't just make up last night.  You _made up_.”

 

Tyler rolled his eyes.  “Nice, Eth.  Now we're never gonna hear the end of it.”

 

“Aww, I would have figured it out without Mr. Giggles over here anyway.  You're both glowing.”

 

Ethan blushed again.

 

“Can we stop talking about this?” Tyler huffed.

 

“For now,” Mark went back to his computer.

 

Tyler glared at Ethan playfully.

 

Ethan pouted.

 

Tyler shook his head and kissed him quickly before getting to work.

 

* * *

 

Amy got there a little later.  “Hey, guys.  Ethan, are you okay?  Did you hurt something?  You're walking funny.”

 

Mark shot her a look from across the room as Ethan blushed bright red.

 

“What?” Amy mouthed at Mark.

 

Mark looked between Tyler and Ethan and then back at Amy.

 

“Oh,” Amy said out loud.

 

“Okay!  Yes.  We had sex last night!  Several times.  Are we all good, now?” Ethan blurted out.

 

“Ethan!” Tyler groaned.  “Too much info.”

 

“Sorry…”

 

Amy and Kathryn bursted out laughing.

 

“Hey, guys.  Don't laugh at them.  It's not funny,” Mark started as he also started laughing.  “It's totally not funny at all that Ethan just told us that Tyler nailed him in the ass ‘several’ times last night.”

 

Tyler bit his lip before laughing hysterically.

 

Ethan buried his face in his hands.

 

“Baby…” Tyler laughed and hugged him.

 

“I fucked up.”

 

“They're our friends.  It's okay.  It was pretty funny.”

 

“I will never forgive any of you if any of this ends up in a video,” Ethan laughed a little.

  



	17. Chapter 17

Ethan sat on Tyler's lap on the couch.

 

“Well, hi.  What's up, babe?” Tyler kissed his cheek.

 

“Do you think I should tell everyone about us being engaged on my channel?” Ethan leaned on his shoulder.

 

“I don't know,” Tyler frowned.  “Do you want to?”

 

“I don't know.  Kinda?  I don't like feeling like I'm hiding something from them.”

 

Tyler nodded.  “It's up to you.”

 

Ethan sighed.  “I guess I should.  Will you be in the video with me?”

 

***

 

Ethan looked over at Tyler and smiled before turning on his camera.  “What is up my Cranky Crew?  It's Ethan from CrankGameplays and today is going to be a different kind of video.  Tyler's here with me!” he said as Tyler scooted into the frame with him.

 

Tyler waved to the camera.

 

“So.  I have a kind of announcement, I guess?” Ethan shrugged.

 

Tyler nodded.

 

“So, yeah.  Um.  Tyler and I are engaged,” Ethan grinned.  “And we're so so happy about it.  I'm so fucking excited.  Do you want to tell the story?” he turned to Tyler.

 

“Sure,” Tyler smiled.  “So, we've had an interesting relationship since we met.  We've always had feelings for each other, but we just finally got officially together about six months ago.  I proposed a month after we started dating.”

 

“Oh!” Ethan ran and got the Build a Bear.  “Yeah, he proposed while I was in the hospital after my allergic reaction.  And he got this adorable fucking bear,” he pressed the bear’s hand and held it closer to the microphone.

 

Tyler laughed.  “It was cheesy.  But it ended up being pretty perfect.”

 

Ethan hugged the bear.  “It's so cute.  I sleep with it every night.”

 

Tyler smiled at him.  “Should we show the rings?”

 

Ethan looked at him.  “What?  Oh yeah,” 

he held his hand up to the camera and waited for it to focus.  “Like how fucking beautiful is that?  Describe it like an infomercial, Ty.”

 

Tyler laughed.  “We have here a blue and black Tungsten Carbide ring.”

 

“Of course you know exactly what it's called.”

 

“I should.  I bought it.”

 

Ethan giggled.  “But, yeah.  It's super pretty and I love it.”

 

Tyler held his hand up to the camera.

 

“Tyler's is a silver band with sapphires in it.”

 

“Cause it's blue like you,” Tyler smiled at him.

  
Ethan grinned and took his hand.  “So, yeah.  That's about it, I guess.  We're both incredibly happy.  And I hope you all will be happy for us too!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it was unclear, this is a few months after the previous chapter :)
> 
> Ethan's ring: https://www.google.com/search?q=mens+engagement+rings&client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us&sa=X&tbs=vw:g,ss:44&tbm=shop&prmd=sinv&srpd=5994307478331928447&prds=ds:1,num:4,cid:5994307478331928447,rv:3-4&ved=0ahUKEwiIzcfBiIjVAhVF74MKHUENBbAQ-NEBCDU
> 
> Tyler's ring:  
> https://www.google.com/search?q=mens+engagement+rings&client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us&sa=X&tbs=vw:g,ss:44&tbm=shop&prmd=sinv&srpd=3335691378391808029&prds=ds:1,num:4,cid:3335691378391808029,rv:2-4&ved=0ahUKEwiho8XHiIjVAhVjwYMKHfE_DT4Q-NEBCCA


	18. Chapter 18

_ “OH MY GOD I'M ACTUALLY SCREAMING” _

 

_ “Why didn't you tell us until now!?” _

 

_ “ASDFHJKLDJWSKHBFS” _

 

_ “When are you getting married?????” _

 

_ “I'm crying I'm so happy omg” _

 

_ “Yeeeeess the ship is canon!” _

 

_ “TYTHAN!!!!” _

 

Tyler scrolled through the comments on Ethan's announcement video.  “Well.  I think, for the most part, people are happy about us.”

  
  


Ethan laughed.  “Yeah.  I've been reading the comments too.”

 

“I think I'm going to do an Instagram live stream to answer some of their questions.”

 

“Okay,” Ethan kissed his cheek.

 

Tyler tweeted about the stream and then started it.

 

“Hey guys.  So I'm going to start by answering a few comments I saw on Ethan's video.  First, we didn't say anything until now because it's just something we wanted to keep private for a while.  Not everything is something we want to or need to share right away.  This was one of those things.  You know, it's something so important to us, and we didn't want it, how do I say it… tainted, I guess, by going public too soon.”

 

Tyler read the chat for a second.

 

“Okay, yeah.  Another question I'm seeing a lot is about when we're getting married.  We don't know yet.  We've talked about it a little.  What did we say, Eth?  I said I want to get married before I'm thirty.  What was your condition?”

 

“All I said was that I want an autumn wedding,” Ethan said from off-camera.

 

“Right.  Ethan's here by the way,” Tyler turned his phone to Ethan.

 

Ethan smiled and did a peace sign.

 

Tyler laughed and turned his phone back to himself.  “Aw, now the chat’s exploding with ‘Hi, Ethan’s.”

 

“Hi to all of you!”

 

“What other questions do you guys have?” Tyler looked at the chat.  “There's one.  Who will be in our wedding party?  We have actually already figured this out.  We're each going to have 2 best men.  Mine are Mark and Wade.”

 

“Brian and G are mine,” Ethan said.

 

Tyler nodded.  “We might have others, but we don't know for sure yet.”

 

“I've seen honeymoon location questions a lot,” Ethan laid down and put his feet in Tyler's lap.

 

Tyler rolled his eyes and poked Ethan's foot.

 

Ethan giggled.

 

“Yeah, we're going to Hawaii for the honeymoon.  ‘Can you livestream the wedding?’  Absolutely not,” Tyler laughed.

 

“Yeah, no,” Ethan said.  “That would be…  Yeah.  Just no.”

 

“No.  I mean.  It's  _ our wedding.   _ And we love you guys.  And we want to include you in our lives.  But kind of in relation to what I was saying earlier, some things are meant for just us and our close family and friends.”

 

“Obviously we'll post pictures and stuff,” Ethan sat up and moved into the camera view.  “Like.  I might even do a video on it or something.  Don't hold me to that.  But, yeah.  We won't stream it.”

 

“One more question,” Tyler looked at the chat.  “What are we doing about our last names?”

 

“I'm taking Tyler's,” Ethan smiled.  “So it'll be Tyler and Ethan Scheid.”

 

Tyler smiled at him.  “So, yeah.  I'm gonna end the stream here.  I might answer a few more questions on Twitter.”

 

Ethan waved.  “Bye guys!”

 

“Bye!”


	19. Chapter 19

Tyler leaned down over the bed and kissed Ethan’s head to wake him up.  “Happy six-month anniversary, baby.”

 

Ethan opened his eyes, looked up at him, and grinned.  “Happy an-versary,” he yawned and stretched out.

 

Tyler sat down on the edge of the bed.

 

Ethan yawned again and tugged on Tyler’s shirt.  “How long have you been awake?”

 

“A while.  I had a couple of errands to run,” Tyler straddled him.

 

“Okay.  What are you waiting for?  Kiss me,” Ethan poked Tyler’s thigh.

 

“Make me.”

 

“No,” Ethan whined.  “‘m too tired.”

 

“Aww, you poor baby,” Tyler took Ethan’s hands and kissed them before pinning them down on the bed over Ethan’s head.

 

Ethan huffed.  “Why are you torturing me on our anniversary?  Just kiss me.”

 

“I just did.”

 

“Not what I meant!”

 

Tyler laughed and leaned down to kiss him.

 

Ethan pushed Tyler over and moved on top of him.

 

“Oh, I see how it is,” Tyler smirked and sat up so Ethan was straddling his lap.

 

“I’m in charge now,” Ethan tangled his fingers in Tyler’s hair.

 

“Whatever you say, baby.”

 

Ethan sucked a mark on Tyler’s neck.  “There.  That’s for not kissing me.”

  
“Brutal punishment,” Tyler hugged his waist.

 

“Oh that’s not all,” Ethan kissed him very softly.

 

“Mm.  Do your worst.”

 

* * *

 

Tyler carried Ethan into the living room a while later, where there were several presents sitting around the room.

 

“What’s this?” Ethan looked around.

 

“For you.  Open them.”

 

Ethan went and opened one of them.  “A sleeping bag?”

 

“Uh huh.  Open the next one,” Tyler grinned and sat on the couch.

 

Ethan opened the next.  “Aww.  Mickey Mouse ears with our names on them!”

 

Tyler laughed.

 

Ethan opened up the rest of the presents, which included a sandcastle building set, a cowboy hat, and a beanie.  “I’m confused.”

 

“I’m taking you on a little vacation.  Each thing represents a place we’re going.  Camping, Disneyland, the beach, horseback riding, and skiing.”

 

“Oh my god, this is amazing!” Ethan got up and hugged him.

 

“You like it?”

 

Ethan kissed his cheek.  “Of course I love it!  This’ll be so much fun!”

 

Tyler smiled.  “Good.  Happy anniversary, Ethan.”


	20. Chapter 20

“So.  In addition to this awesome vacation I've planned, I've rented out that trampoline place for tonight.  We're going there with Mark, Amy, and Kathryn to celebrate us.  And there might be some other surprises for you there...” Tyler hugged Ethan's waist.

 

“This is incredible.  All for just six months of being together.  I can't believe you'd do this all for me.”

 

“You really don't get it, do you?” Tyler pushed Ethan's hair back.

 

Ethan leaned on his shoulder.  “Get what?”

 

“How much I love you.”

 

“Of course I do.”

 

“No.  You don't,” Tyler kissed his head.  “I would do literally anything for you.  You, Ethan, are my entire world.  You mean everything to me.  I would give you my working kidney if you needed it.”

 

“Ty…”

 

“I'm serious.  You've got me wrapped so far around your finger.  You're my everything.”

 

Ethan hugged him tightly.  “I love you so much.”

 

“I love you too, Ethan.  So much more than words can express.”

 

* * *

 

Ethan and Tyler got to the trampoline place that night, along with Mark, Amy, and Kathryn.

 

Ethan went and started jumping right away.

 

Tyler shook his head and laughed as he sat down in a chair.

 

“How has your day been so far?” Amy asked Tyler.

 

“It’s been amazing.  It couldn’t have gone better.”

 

Ethan ran back up to them and sat on Tyler’s lap.  “This is going to be so much fun!  Let’s go!”

 

“Hold on a minute, babe,” Tyler laughed.  “Your surprises will be here in a minute.”

 

“What else could I even ask for?” 

 

“Just you wait,” Tyler hugged him.

 

A few minutes later Sean, Signe, Wade, Bob, Parker, Shelby, Matt, G, and Brian all walked in.

 

“Surprise,” Tyler nudged Ethan.

 

Ethan looked over.  “Oh my god!” he got up and ran over to them.

 

They all hugged him.

 

“Happy six months, guys,” Sean said to them.

 

Ethan went back to Tyler.  “You got them all here for me?”

 

“I thought we should celebrate today with the people we love.”

 

Ethan hugged him.  “You’re the best.  Seriously.  I love you.”

 

“I love you too.  Go have fun.  I’ll join you in a minute.”

 

Ethan went and started jumping with Brian and G.

 

“I can’t believe you guys have been together for six months already,” Brian said.

 

“I know.  In some ways it feels like longer, but I don’t think I could ever have enough time with him,” Ethan nodded.

 

“I can’t believe you’re getting married.  That’s what I can’t believe,” G tried to do a flip.

 

“I can’t believe it either,” Ethan laughed.  “But I honestly am so excited to be married to him.  He’s the best.  He makes me feel so safe and loved.  I’ve never felt this way before.  It’s an amazing feeling.  I could talk about it for hours.”

 

“Does it ever feel weird because of how much older he is?” G asked.

 

Ethan shrugged.  “I mean.  Sometimes it’s a lot more obvious than others.  But it’s not usually a bad thing.”

 

“He seems a little like a dad,” G laughed.

 

Ethan blushed a little.

 

“Oh my god, do you call him Daddy?”

 

“No!”

 

“You do, don’t you?”

 

“He likes it, okay!?”

 

Brian and G laughed.

 

“It's a little of a joke between us now because we had a big fight before about him treating me like a kid.”

 

“I can see that,” Brian nodded.

 

“But it's all good now.”

 

“Where did the calling him Daddy come from then?” Brian asked.

 

“I uh.  Accidentally said it in bed once.”

 

Brian and G started laughing hysterically.

 

Ethan rolled his eyes and went back by everyone else.

 

“You okay, baby?” Tyler took his hand.

 

“They’re making fun of me for calling you Daddy…” Ethan whispered.

 

“Well, why would you tell them?” Tyler laughed and hugged him.

 

Ethan shrugged.  “Hold me.”

 

Tyler picked him up.  “You’re so spoiled.”

 

Ethan kissed his nose.  “I know.  And you just love spoiling me.”

 

“I do,” Tyler smiled.  “Oh.  Perfect timing.  Your next surprise is here.”

 

Ethan looked over as his family, as well as Tyler's, came in.  “You didn't…”

 

“I did,” Tyler put him down.

 

“You're too good for me,” Ethan kissed him and then went to greet his family.

 

* * *

 

Tyler pulled Ethan aside after a while.  “I have something I need to ask you.”

 

“Okay…”

 

“Do you want to get married?  Right now?”

 

“What?”

 

“All of our friends and family are here.  What if we just got married now?”

 

Ethan laughed.  “You're insane.  You did this all on purpose.”

 

Tyler nodded.

 

Ethan shook his head.  “Okay.  Let's do it.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

Ethan nodded.  “But I want to get married on the beach.”

  
“Your wish is my command, baby.”


	21. Chapter 21

Tyler walked with Ethan down the beach toward the water.  “Shit.  We don't have rings.”

 

“I'm okay just having our engagement rings as our wedding rings,” Ethan smiled up at him.

 

“Are you sure?  I want this to be perfect.”

 

“I'm sure.  It's already perfect,” Ethan took his shoes off when they got to the water and stepped into it.

* * *

 

 

Ethan posted a picture that Amy took of the ceremony later that night.

 

‘@crankgameplays: We got married today’

 

Tyler posted a different picture.

 

‘@apocolypto_12: They say a picture’s worth 1,000 words.  I don't think I could possibly come up with 1,000 words that could ever be enough to express how much love I have for Ethan.  So the picture will have to do.  Or to put it simply as Ethan did: We got married today’

 

“I love you,” Ethan said from across the couch.

 

Tyler looked over and smiled.  “I love you too.  Husband.”

 

Ethan grinned.  “Wanna go cuddle in bed, husband?”

 

“That sounds amazing, husband,” Tyler scooped him up and brought him to the bedroom.

 

They both got their pajamas on and got into bed.

 

Tyler spooned Ethan as Ethan read through some comments on their photos.  

 

“Well.  Everyone's pissed,” Ethan said.

 

“Not surprising,” Tyler kissed his head.

 

Ethan shrugged and took a selfie of them.

 

‘@crankgameplays: Wowie would you look at those handsome husbands!  So lucky to have this man in my life.  I'll explain about the wedding later’

 

“You're so cute,” Tyler yawned.

 

Ethan turned around to face him.  “Thank you.  So much.  For everything today.  And always.”

 

“Of course, sweetheart,” Tyler hugged him.

 

“I swear I got you a present…  It’s just not here yet.”

 

Tyler laughed.  “That's okay.”

 

“I think you'll like it.”

 

“I'm sure I will.”

 

Ethan yawned.

 

“Let's sleep.  We can celebrate being married tomorrow.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “Night, husband.”

 

Tyler kissed his head and turned off the light.  “Goodnight, husband.”


	22. Chapter 22

Ethan sat with Tyler in his recording space and turned on his camera.  “What is up my Cranky Crew?  It’s Ethan from CrankGameplays, and Tyler and I got married yesterday!”

 

Tyler grinned.

 

“I know a lot of you guys are mad that we didn’t tell you before,” Ethan chuckled.  “But, yeah.  It wasn’t really planned.”

 

“It was a little planned,” Tyler said.

 

“Yeah, by you, you sneaky asshole.”

 

Tyler laughed.  “Yeah.  Yesterday was our six-month anniversary.  I surprised him with a lot of things, including a wedding.”

 

“It was incredible.  I had no idea about anything.  He got all of our friends and our families here and everything.”

 

Tyler nodded.  “The wedding planning was overwhelming him.  So, I thought this would be perfect.”

 

“I mean, I was skeptical at first, but it turned out better than I could have imagined.  I’ll put in some pictures here,” Ethan said.  “It was perfect.”

 

“Mark cried.”

 

Ethan laughed.  “He did.  And Amy got a picture of it.  It was awesome.”

 

“We both cried too.”

 

“I was fine until you said your vows.”

 

Tyler smiled.  

 

“But yeah.  I’m Ethan Scheid now.”


	23. Chapter 23

“Tyler!  Tyler Tyler Tyler Tyler Tyler!” Ethan called from the living room.

 

Tyler came running from the bedroom.  “What's wrong?”

 

“Your present finally got here!”

 

“Ethan!  I thought you were hurt or something!”

 

“Nope!” Ethan opened the box.

 

Tyler rolled his eyes and sat down.

 

Ethan got out two framed pictures.  “It's the visual representations in sound-wave form of each of us saying ‘'I love you.’”

 

Tyler looked at them.  “Oh my god.  This is awesome, babe.”

 

“I thought we could hang them up in here.”

 

“Yeah.  This is so sweet, Ethan,” Tyler hugged him.  “Thank you.”

 

“It's nothing compared with what you did for me.”

 

“Oh, stop.  This is perfect.”

 

Ethan smiled.

  
Tyler kissed him.  “Love you.  Let's get these hung up.”


	24. Chapter 24

Ethan laid on the floor of the office with Chica after they were done with work for the day.  “So yeah.  We'll be gone for a whole month.”

 

“Damn.  You're going to have a whole lot of preparing videos to do before that, huh?” Mark said.

 

“Mhmm.  I'm dreading it.  I have no idea what to record.”

 

“But it only makes sense for us to do our road trip I planned as part of our honeymoon,” Tyler added.

 

“Oh, yeah.  I totally agree,” Ethan sat up.  “It's just gonna suck leading up to going.”

 

“When do you leave?” Mark asked.

 

“About two weeks.”

 

“Yeah that's a lot to do in two weeks.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “I'm going to try to find a long game to play so I can squeeze a lot of videos out of it.”

 

“Good plan.”

 

Ethan ran his hand through his hair.

 

“Eth,” Tyler looked at him.

 

“Hm?”

 

“If this is too much too quickly, we can reschedule the trip.”

 

Ethan shook his head.  “No.  I wanna go.  We've been putting this off for so long already.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Don't overwhelm yourself,” Mark said.  “If you don't have a video for every single day you're gone, that's okay.  Just do what you can.  People will understand.”

 

“I would just hate to disappoint people.”

 

“I know.”

 

Ethan sighed and hugged Chica.

 

Tyler sat down by him and rubbed his back.  “It'll be okay.  I'll help you.”

 

Ethan nodded.

 

Tyler kissed his head.  “There's nothing else wrong, is there?” he asked quieter.

 

Ethan shrugged.

 

“We can talk at home.”

 

“Kay.”

 

Tyler kissed his cheek again.  “We should get going.”

 

* * *

 

“So.  What's on your mind, Blue?” Tyler asked once they got home.

 

“I talked to my mom yesterday.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Ethan sighed.  “I thought we were okay and everything since she came to our little wedding and everything was fine then but now she's acting weird again.”

 

“I'm sorry, baby.  Weird how?”

 

“I dunno.  I was telling her about our plans for the trip and she was just not at all interested in that.  Then she kept asking about kids.”

 

“What did you tell her about that?”

 

“That we haven't really talked about it.  And that we've only been married for a year and that I'm only twenty-two so I'm not necessarily in a huge hurry to bring kids into the picture right now.  And she was not happy about that.”

 

Tyler nodded.  “She shouldn't be pressuring you about that.”

 

Ethan sighed and was quiet for a minute.  “Have you thought about kids at all?”

 

“A little.  I mean.  I know I want at least one kid eventually.  Not necessarily right now either.  And I know you're still kind of young to be thinking about kids, but I'm not.  And I have some health things…”

 

“I didn't even think about that part of it,” Ethan frowned.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I do want a kid.  But can we talk about this more another time?  I need to go to bed.”

 

“Of course.  I'll join you in a little while, okay?”

 

Ethan nodded and stood up.  “I love you.”

 

“I love you too.”

  
When Tyler got into bed, Ethan had already fallen asleep.  Tyler pulled the covers up over them and wrapped an arm around his husband before drifting off.


	25. Chapter 25

Ethan flopped down on the couch.  “I’m done.  I’m finally done.”

 

“You finished editing everything?”

 

Ethan nodded and crawled into his lap.

 

“Awesome, babe,” Tyler kissed his forehead.

 

“Amy and Kathryn are going to make sure everything uploads okay while we’re gone.”

 

“Now we just have to pack!”

 

Ethan groaned.  “Nooooooo.  Why would you say that?”

 

“Because we’re leaving for a month in two days and we have nothing packed,” Tyler laughed.

 

“Just let me rest,” Ethan whined.

 

Tyler rolled his eyes.  “Okay.  But only for today.  Tomorrow we need to pack.”

 

* * *

 

Ethan closed the trunk of the car after stuffing all of their things into it.  “Ready?”

 

Tyler laughed.  “Sure we have everything?”

 

“I think so,” Ethan said as they got into the car.  “Where are we going first again?”

 

“Disney.”

 

“Right.  Well.  Let’s get on the road,” Ethan grinned.

 

* * *

 

Ethan immediately laid down on the bed when they got to their hotel room.  “Wowie, I love Disney.”

 

Tyler put their suitcases down and climbed on the bed with him.  “Damn.  This is a big bed.”

 

Ethan sprawled out on it.  “So much room for activities,” he winked

 

“Oh yeah?  What kind of activities?” Tyler looked at him.

 

“The good ol’ sexy kind of activities,” Ethan winked again.

 

Tyler chuckled and laid down.

 

“Seeexxxxxy activities,” Ethan repeated as he leaned over closer to Tyler.

 

“Okay, well what are you waiting for?”

 

Ethan smirked and kissed him.

 

Tyler kissed back.

 

Ethan moved on top of him and kissed him again.

 

“Mm,” Tyler ran his hands down Ethan’s back and smacked his ass before grabbing it.

 

Ethan moaned softly before giggling.

 

“What?” Tyler laughed.

 

“That’s new.”

 

“Yeah, I don’t know how I’ve never grabbed or slapped that perky little butt of yours before.”

 

Ethan giggled again.  “It’s nice.  I, uh, would totally not mind if you did that again.”

 

Tyler squeezed his ass.

 

“Ohh.”

 

Tyler laughed.  “You’re so fucking cute.”

 

“You’re hot.”

 

“Mm, so are you,” Tyler ran his hand through Ethan’s hair.  “So hot.”

 

Ethan blushed.

 

“Want me to tell you want I want to do to you?”

 

Ethan blushed deeper red and nodded with wide eyes.

 

Tyler gently pulled Ethan’s head closer to his own and whispered in his ear.

 

“Ohh, fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops


	26. Chapter 26

Tyler nudged Ethan awake in the morning.

 

Ethan jumped and smacked his arm away.

 

“Ow.”

 

Ethan looked up at him.  “Shit.  Sorry.  You scared me.”

 

Tyler kissed his forehead.  “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

 

Ethan yawned.

 

“Wanna shower and get breakfast before heading to the parks?”

 

“Yeah.  I’m so excited.”

 

Tyler smiled and kissed him.  “Me too.  Let’s get going.”

 

* * *

 

“Aww, we forgot our Mickey hats at home,” Ethan said as they passed a store in the park.

 

“Aww, yeah.  We did,” Tyler frowned.  “Do you wanna get new ones?”

 

Ethan nodded.

 

Tyler took his hand and walked into the store with him.  “Which ones should we get?”

 

“What if we just got the normal ones but got ‘Just Married’ embroidered on them?”

 

“Perfect,” Tyler smiled and kissed his hand.  "Even though it's been a year," he laughed.

 

Ethan giggled and picked up two hats and brought them to the counter and told the cast member what they wanted embroidered on them.  “It’ll be like twenty minutes,” he said when he went back by Tyler.

 

“Okay.  We can go check out a few other stores while we wait.”

 

Ethan nodded and took his hand again.

 

Tyler smiled and walked around with him until their Mickey ears were ready.  “Well, don’t you look adorable,” he said after Ethan put his on.

 

“And so do you.  Let’s go take pictures in front of the castle.”

 

They walked out of the store and found a photographer to take their pictures.

 

For one of them, Tyler wrapped his arms around Ethan from behind.

 

For another, they did a jumping picture.

 

And for the third, they faced away from the camera and looked up at the castle while holding hands.

 

After taking their pictures, they walked further into the park.

 

“I hope those turned out well,” Ethan said and swung their hands together.

 

“We'll have to go check them out later and then buy a ton if they're good.”

 

Ethan grinned.  “I'm so happy to be here with you, Tyler.”

 

Tyler smiled and squeezed his hand.

 

“Thank you so much for this.”

 

“You know I would do anything to put a smile on your face.  One of those things happens to be me taking you to the happiest place on earth.”

 

“It's working,” Ethan giggled.  “I'm incredibly happy.”

  
Tyler laughed.  “And nothing makes me happier than that.”


	27. Chapter 27

Tyler and Ethan got in line for Space Mountain.

 

“Long line,” Ethan sighed.

 

“Yeah.  At least we can talk to each other while we wait.”

 

“Oh.  Yeah.  That makes  _ everything  _ better,” Ethan teased.

 

Tyler nudged him.

 

Ethan laughed.

 

“Fine.  Then I’ll just stand here in silence,” Tyler crossed his arms.

 

Ethan rolled his eyes.

 

Tyler laughed and wrapped his arms around him.

 

Ethan smiled and hummed quietly to himself as they waited, periodically shuffling forward in line.

 

Tyler kissed the top of Ethan’s head.

 

Ethan turned around in his arms and hugged him.  “Hi.”

 

“Hi,” Tyler leaned down to kiss him.

 

Ethan smiled and then pulled away.

 

“Excuse me,” the woman in front of them said.  “Could you not do that here?  There are children around.  My children don’t need to see  _ that _ .”

 

Tyler raised an eyebrow at her.  “Excuse me?”

 

“This is not the time or place for such public displays of affection.”

 

Ethan shook his head.  “Hey, I can kiss my husband if I want to.  If you don’t want to see it, look away.”

 

“I shouldn’t have to shield my eyes from something so inappropriate at a family theme park.”

 

“We didn’t even do anything inappropriate,” Tyler took Ethan’s hand.  “Whatever.  Let’s go on a different ride.”

 

Ethan followed him out of the line.  “Ty.  Chill out.  It’s not that big of a deal.”

 

Tyler turned around to face him.  “No.  It is a big deal.  That is not okay.”

 

“It’s not okay, but you don’t need to be so angry about it, babe.  People are ignorant.  It’s the way it is.  Just ignore it and remember why we’re here, okay?”

 

Tyler sighed deeply and hugged him.  

 

“Come on.  Let’s go find a different ride to go on.”


	28. Chapter 28

Ethan sat on a lawn chair watching Tyler as he set up the tent.

 

“Done,” Tyler walked over to him.  “Want to see?”

 

“Sure,” Ethan chuckled and went to the tent with him.  “Wow.  Amazing work, Ty.  It’s beautiful.  I can’t wait to sleep in it.”

 

Tyler laughed.  “Wanna go on a hike?”

 

Ethan nodded.  “Okay if I vlog it?”

 

“Fine by me.”

 

“Awesome,” Ethan got his camera out.  “Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

“What is up my Cranky Crew?  It's Ethan and Tyler, and we’re on our honeymoon!” Ethan turned the camera to Tyler.

 

Tyler smiled and waved.  “We’re camping!”

 

“Oh yeah.  It’s gonna be great.  We’re going on a nice little hike right now.”

 

“It’s a beautiful day out.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “We just got here about an hour ago.  We were at Disney for a few days to start off our vacation.”

 

“That was a lot of fun.”

 

“Probably my favorite Disney trip,” Ethan smiled at Tyler.

 

“Aww.  Mine too,” Tyler said as he walked a little ahead of Ethan.

 

“Oh, now.   _This_ is a nice view,” Ethan zoomed in on Tyler’s ass.

 

Tyler turned around and slapped his ass and winked.

 

Ethan giggled.

 

Tyler shook his head and laughed as he started walking again.

 

“So, on our first day at Disney, some lady yelled at us for kissing.  So that was fun.”

 

“I was really mad about that,” Tyler said.

 

“Yeah.  I thought you were going to punch somebody.”

 

“I was not going to punch somebody.”

 

“You sounded like you wanted to.”

 

Tyler shrugged.

 

“Anyway.  Yeah.  It was dumb.  We saw her again later that day and kinda just made out in front of her.”

 

Tyler laughed.  “The look on her face was pretty great.”

 

Ethan giggled.  “It was funny.  She was so pissed off, but we just ignored her.”

 

Tyler smiled and took his hand.  “It was fun.”

 

“So much fun.  So, we’re camping tonight, and then going to a few other places before we head to Hawaii.”

 

Tyler nodded.

 

Ethan smiled and squeezed his hand.

 

“I've seen a lot of questions in our comments lately.  Do you want to answer some of those while we walk?”

 

“Oh, yeah.  Do you have one in mind to start with?”

 

Tyler shrugged.  “I've seen a lot of questions asking what our favorite part about being married is.”

 

“Hm.  What's yours?”

 

“Being able to introduce you as my husband.  There's something about saying ‘Hi, I'm Tyler, and this is my husband, Ethan’ that makes me incredibly happy.”

 

“Aww.  I like that I get to be Ethan Scheid.  The name change is my favorite part, I think.  Having the same last name as you is so cool.”

 

Tyler smiled.  “I also saw someone asking if we're going to get a dog and/or move into a house.”

 

Ethan laughed.  “I want a dog so bad.  I just don't know if now’s a good time to get one.”

 

“And yeah, we've been talking about moving into a house again, but it probably won't be for a while.”

 

“Yeah.  We're so busy.  There isn't time to move right now.  But eventually we will.  Especially if we get a dog.”

 

“Yeah,” Tyler nodded.

 

“Another question I've seen lately is about how Mark feels about all of this and if work has changed at all.”

 

“Interesting.  Yeah, Mark’s really supportive of us.  I don't really know what else to say about that part of it.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “Pretty much.  Work hasn't really changed at all.”

 

“One funny thing is the livestreams now,” Tyler said.

 

“Oh, yeah.  I don't know if you guys have seen it or not, but last month's stream had some funny moments.”

 

Tyler laughed.  “Like when someone said they'd donate $500 if we made out.”

 

Ethan giggled.  “Yeah, I think Mark was a little annoyed about that.  But hey.  Our lips raised $500 for charity so.”

 

“By the time this video comes out, it'll have already happened, but this month's stream is when we're in Hawaii.  So we'll be steaming from there while Mark, Kathryn, and Amy are in LA.  It'll be interesting.”

 

“Yeah, Mark won't be sitting between us this time,” Ethan laughed.

 

“So we can cuddle the whole time!” Tyler nudged him.

 

“ _Hell_ yeah.”

  
They made it back to their campsite a little while later and Ethan ended the video.  “I'm hungry now.”


	29. Chapter 29

Ethan sat with Tyler on the beach in Hawaii, watching a family making sandcastles.  He leaned his head on Tyler’s shoulder.  “You’d be an amazing dad.”

 

“Hm?” Tyler looked away from the ocean to Ethan.

 

“I said that I think you would be a really good dad.”

 

“You think so?” 

 

Ethan nodded and kept watching the family.

 

Tyler smiled.  “You’d be a good dad, too.”

 

Ethan shrugged.

 

“You would.  Whenever you’re ready to have kids.”

 

“I want that so bad.”

 

“Which part?” Tyler hugged him.

 

“All of it.  I want that,” Ethan gestured to the family.  “Forget what I said a couple weeks ago.  I want a baby.”

 

Tyler kissed his cheek.  “Okay.”

 

“Okay?  That’s it?  I definitely thought you were gonna resist me on this.”

 

Tyler shrugged.  “I want a baby, too.”

 

“So, we’re gonna have a baby?”

 

“We’re gonna have a baby.”

 

Ethan tackled him and kissed him.  “I love you.  We’re going to be the best dads.”


	30. Chapter 30

“Hey, guys!  How was the honeymoon?” Mark asked when Tyler and Ethan walked into the office their first day back.

 

“Amazing.  So amazing,” Ethan grinned up at Tyler.

 

“It was,” Tyler smiled.  “I’m happy to be back, though.  I think a month might have been too long.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “I missed you guys.”

 

“Aww.  We missed you guys too,” Mark hugged Ethan.

 

Ethan giggled.  “But, yeah.  We had a great time.”

 

Tyler sat down by Chica.

 

“We also have some news.”

 

“What’s that?” Mark sat down at his desk.

 

“We decided to have a baby,” Tyler grinned.

 

“Oh, really?  Congratulations,” Mark smiled.  “How’s that going to work?”

 

“We did a ton of research while we were gone.  We’re going to use an egg donor and a surrogate.  We already picked out our egg donor,” Ethan sat by Tyler and Chica.

 

“But we’re having some trouble finding a surrogate,” Tyler pet Chica’s head.

 

Amy and Kathryn walked in.

 

“What are you guys talking about?” Amy hugged them.  “Welcome back.”

 

“We’re having a baby.  When we find a surrogate,” Ethan looked up at her.

 

“Oh, wow.  That’s awesome, guys.”

 

Kathryn sat down by them.

 

“We were just telling Mark that we picked an egg donor but can't find a surrogate,” Ethan laid his head in Kathryn’s lap.

 

Tyler nodded.  “I mean, it's only been a couple weeks since we started the process.  But still.  It's all we've been able to think about.”

 

“Whose sperm is it going to be?” Amy asked.

 

Tyler looked at Ethan.  “Ethan's.”

 

“Really?” Mark looked at them.

 

“Yeah.  We thought pretty long and hard about it.  We think that would be best.”

 

“Huh.  Sorry.  I didn't mean for that to sound rude.  Just not what I would have thought.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “Don't worry.  I understand what you mean completely.  But yeah.  We decided on me.”

 

“So, you guys really want a baby really badly, huh?” Kathryn pet Ethan's hair.

 

“Yeah.  So bad,” Ethan sighed.  “I made a fucking Pinterest.  A Pinterest!  For fucking baby clothes and shit.  It's ridiculous how hard baby fever has hit us.”

 

Kathryn nodded slowly.  “I'll be your surrogate.”

 

Ethan sat up.  “What?”

 

“I'll be your guys’ surrogate.  I'll carry your baby.”

 

“Kathryn…” Tyler started.

 

Ethan shook his head.  “You really don't…  That's a huge thing for you to offer.”

 

“I know.  And I wouldn't offer unless I meant it.”

 

“Oh my god,” Ethan put his face in his hands.

 

“Are you serious?  Like actually serious?” Tyler took Ethan's hands.

 

“Yeah.  If this is something you guys want so badly, I would be happy to help you.  Honestly.”

 

“Oh my god!” Tyler looked over at Ethan, who had tears running down his cheeks.

 

“Oh, Ethan…” Kathryn laughed and hugged him.

 

Ethan cried into her shoulder.  “Thank you.  Oh my god.  I don't know how to thank you enough.  Oh my god I love you so much.  I love all of you so much.”

 

“Are you guys sure Ethan's not already pregnant?” Mark joked.

 

Amy slapped his knee.  “Let them have their moment.  It’s beautiful.”

 

“I know.  I'm just kidding.”

  
Tyler pulled Ethan into a kiss and then looked at all of them with a smile.  “Our family is about to get bigger.”


	31. Chapter 31

Ethan sat on the couch in their new house, staring at the picture from the ultrasound of the baby.

 

Tyler sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder.

 

“This is insane,” Ethan said, still staring at the picture.

 

“I know.  Our little boy.”

 

“I can't believe it's been twenty weeks already.”

 

“Already halfway through,” Tyler kissed his cheek.

 

“I just can't believe that this little guy is mine…”

 

“He's going to be beautiful, babe.”

 

“I love him so much already.  So so much.”

 

“Me too.”

 

Ethan smiled.  “Little Liam.”

 

Tyler laid down with his head in Ethan's lap.

 

Ethan played with Tyler's hair.  “Do you think he'll look like me or the mom?”

 

“Hm.  I don't know.  Let me see the picture again.”

 

Ethan handed it to him.

 

“Oh, well he already has your nose.”

 

“Poor kid.”

 

Tyler rolled his eyes.  “It's adorable.”

 

Ethan smiled.  “I can't wait to see him and hold him.”

 

“He'll be here soon.”


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for this chapter.

Tyler walked into where Ethan was recording videos.  “Ethan.”

 

Ethan looked up at him and then looked right back at the screen.

 

Tyler walked closer.  “Eth.”

 

Ethan took his headphones off and looked at him.  “I'm recording,” he put the headphones back on.

 

Tyler turned the camera off and took Ethan's headphones off his head.

 

“What the hell, Tyler!?”

 

Tyler sat down in the chair next to him.

 

“What are you doing!?”

 

Tyler bit his lip and looked up at him.  “I…  Ethan, Amy just called me.  Kathryn's in the hospital.”

 

“What?”

 

“Um,” Tyler choked back a sob.  “The baby was born.”

 

* * *

 

They got to Kathryn’s hospital room a while later.

 

Tyler went over to her and hugged her.

 

“I'm so sorry, guys,” Kathryn cried.

 

“It's not your fault,” Tyler rubbed her back.

 

“The doctors said he isn't going to make it.”

 

Tyler sat up and looked at Ethan, who was staring at the tiny baby in the incubator.

 

Kathryn sighed heavily.  “They need you guys to make the decision.”

 

“Eth…” Tyler squeezed Kathryn's hand before going to stand by Ethan.

 

Ethan kept staring at the baby.

 

“Honey.  Look at me.”

 

Ethan looked over at him.

 

“We...  We gotta make a decision.”

 

Ethan shook his head and looked back at Liam.

 

“We don't want him to suffer…”

 

Ethan nodded.

 

“Right?  If the doctors don't think he has a good chance, then we shouldn't force it.  We don't want him to be in any pain.”

 

Ethan nodded again.

 

A few minutes later, the doctor took the baby off of all of the tubes.  “Would you like to hold him?” he asked Tyler and Ethan.

 

Ethan nodded and held out his hands.

 

The doctor handed Liam to him.

 

Ethan held him in his hands and sat down.

 

Tyler moved closer to him and looked down at the baby.  “Oh my god.”

 

Tears started falling down Ethan's cheeks.  

 

Tyler cried and kissed the top of Ethan's head.

 

Ethan started sobbing harder.  “Take him.  Please.  Tyler, take him.”

 

Tyler took Liam from him.

 

Ethan ran out into the hallway.

 

Mark got up and followed him.

 

Tyler sniffled loudly.  “Hi, Liam.  Hi, sweet baby.  Your daddy and I love you so so much.  And we're so glad we got to meet you.  Even if it was just for a short time.”

 

Amy and Kathryn cried as they watched him.

 

“Ethan,” Mark sat down by him on the floor of the hallway.

 

“This isn't happening.  This can't be happening.”

 

Mark hugged him tightly.

 

Ethan sobbed into his chest.

 

Mark rubbed his back.  “I'm so sorry.  I'm so so sorry, Ethan.”

 

Ethan held onto Mark's shirt.

 

“Come on.  We should go back.  You don't want to leave Tyler there alone.”

 

Ethan didn't move.

 

Mark sighed and picked him up and carried him back into the room.

 

Tyler looked up.  “He's…”

 

Mark sat down with Ethan.  “I'm so sorry, Tyler.”

 

Tyler kissed Liam’s forehead.  “Sweet dreams, little one.”

 

The doctor took the baby again.

 

“Ethan, do you want to hold him one last time?”

 

Ethan didn't answer.

 

Tyler took Ethan from Mark and held him in his lap.  “Sweetie, this is the last chance you'll have…”

 

Ethan just kept crying into him.

 

“Okay…” Tyler watched as they took the baby away.

 

Eventually, Ethan cried himself to sleep.  Tyler put him on the bed with Kathryn and went outside with Mark.

 

“Tyler…  I’m so sorry, man. I don’t know what to say.”

 

Tyler shook his head.  “I don’t either.  This is all so surreal.  It isn’t fair.  And there’s nothing I could do to help.  The baby or Ethan.  I’ve never seen him like that.  And I couldn’t.  There was nothing.  There was no way to comfort him.  I mean.  I’m devastated.  But, Ethan…”

 

“That was awful to watch,” Mark sighed.

 

“It’s his baby,” Tyler ran his hand through his hair.  “He has a different connection than the rest of us.”

 

Mark nodded.

 

“I just.  What do we do now?  How do we…”

 

“Just take it a step at a time.  It’s all you can do.”


	33. Chapter 33

“Ethan,” Tyler sat down on the bed next to him about a month later.

 

Ethan looked up at him silently.

 

“Hey,” Tyler stroked his hair.  “Are you coming with me to Mark’s today?”

 

Ethan shook his head.

 

“Are you sure?  It would be good for you…”

 

Ethan shook his head again.

 

Tyler sighed.  “Okay.  There’s a waffle on the counter for you.  Please eat it this time.”

 

Ethan turned away from him.

 

Tyler kissed his head.  “I love you, Ethan.”

 

Ethan stayed silent.

 

Tyler nodded and stood up to leave.

 

* * *

 

Mark opened the door for Tyler.  “No Ethan again?”

 

“No,” Tyler walked in and sat on the couch.

 

“Is he doing any better?” Mark sat down next to him.

 

“No.  Not at all.  He’ll still only get up to go to the bathroom.  He won’t eat.  I’ve had to force feed him at least once a day.  I don’t know what to do.”

 

“Poor thing.”

 

“And he still hasn’t said a word since that day.”

 

“Oh my god, really?”

 

Tyler nodded.  “Not a single word.”

 

Mark shook his head.

 

“It’s insane,” Tyler started crying.  “The last thing my husband said to me was telling me to take our dying baby away from him.  The silence is becoming unbearable.  I can’t just sit there and watch him wither away into nothing like this.  I hate leaving him to come here, but staying there is just…  I can’t do it.  I’m an awful husband.”

 

“You’re not,” Mark hugged his shoulders.

 

“I am!” Tyler sobbed.  “I can’t help him.”

 

Mark sighed.  “Come on.  I’ll go home with you.  See if I can help at all.”

 

* * *

 

Tyler walked into the house with Mark.  He looked in the kitchen to see the waffle still sitting on the counter.

 

Mark followed Tyler to their bedroom. 

 

Tyler sat down on the bed, holding the plate with the waffle.  “Hey…  You didn’t eat again.  You need to eat, Eth.”

 

Ethan turned over to look at him and glanced over at Mark.

 

“We’re worried about you, Ethan,” Mark sat on his other side.

 

“Come on.  Sit up so you can eat.”

 

Ethan shook his head.

 

“Ethan.  You need to eat something.  Please.”

 

Ethan shook his head again.

 

Tyler set the plate down.  He pulled the covers off of Ethan and sat him up.

 

“Oh, my god.  Ethan…” Mark said as he took in Ethan’s significantly smaller frame.

 

Tyler tapped Ethan’s ribs.  “This isn’t okay.  I can’t keep doing this, Ethan.  I need you to eat.  I can’t…  I can’t watch you do this to yourself.  You need to start living again.”

 

Ethan stared at him.

 

“At least talk to me.  Please.  Say something.  Anything.”

 

Ethan looked away.

 

“Ethan,” Tyler cried.  “Please.  Anything.  Tell me how much you hate me for letting this happen.  Just say something.  Please.”

 

Ethan started sobbing.

 

Tyler hugged him.  “I hate seeing you like this.  I love you so much.  I love you so much, Ethan.  Please come back to me.”

 

Ethan held onto him tightly.

 

“That’s it.  I’m here.”

 

“I love you,” Ethan said hoarsely.  “I’m sorry.”

 

Tyler kissed his forehead.

 

“I miss him so much,” Ethan whimpered.

 

“I know.  I know, baby.  So do I.”

 

“It’s not fair.”

 

“I know.”

 

Ethan pulled away from him.

 

“I love you.”

 

“I love you too.  I’m sorry.  I wanted to talk.  I.  I.  I just.  I couldn’t.  Physically.  No words.  No words would come out.”

 

Tyler nodded and stroked his hair.

 

“But, I listened to you.  I promise.  I’m sorry.”

 

“Stop apologizing,” Tyler shook his head.  “Just get better.  Please.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “I’ll try.”

 

“That’s all I can ask for.”

 

Ethan sniffed.  “Would you maybe get me a fresh waffle?”

 

“I would love to,” Tyler laughed softly and went to the kitchen.

 

Ethan looked over at Mark.

 

“It’s good to hear your voice again, Blue.”

 

Ethan leaned on his shoulder.  “Thank you for keeping him somewhat sane.”

 

Mark wrapped his arm around him.  “It was killing him.  Seeing you so helpless.”

 

Ethan sighed.  “I didn’t…  I don’t want him to feel like that.”

 

“I know.  It’s not your fault.”

 

“Still.”

 

Mark squeezed his shoulders.  “You guys will get through this.”

 

“I know.  Eventually.”


	34. Chapter 34

Ethan turned on his camera.  “Um.  Hi guys.  It’s been a long time since I’ve uploaded, and I’m sorry.  I know Tyler and Mark both tweeted about how none of the five of us would be active on any social media for a while…  I think Mark just started uploading again last week.  I’m still not ready to go back to normal yet.  But I am ready to talk about what happened.

 

“When Tyler and I were on our honeymoon, we decided we wanted to start a family.  So, pretty quickly we found an egg donor and surrogate.  And she got pregnant right away.  Everything was going pretty well.  But, then the baby was born at twenty-three weeks.”

 

Ethan bit his lip.  “He didn’t make it,” he sniffed.  “Um.  Tyler and I both got to hold him before he died.  He was alive for two hours total.  Amy got some pictures.  I might post one later.  I don’t know.  He was perfect.  I wish I would have held him for longer.”

 

Ethan stared at his floor for a minute.  “Um.  Yeah.  So.  Today is actually his due date…  Um.  This hit us all really hard.  I had a really hard time.  I didn’t really move from my bed for a whole month.  And that whole time, I literally didn’t say a word.  It scared Tyler a lot.  I wasn’t eating or anything.  I lost a ton of weight that I still haven’t gained back.

 

“I don’t really know what else to say.  We’re all better now.  But, it’s still really hard to talk about it.  I was so excited about the baby...  It just sucks,” Ethan nodded slowly.

 

Ethan looked back at the camera.  “I’m glad he’s not suffering though…  Um.  Thank you all for be so understanding and supportive of us.  It helps so much more than you could ever know.

 

“And, um.  Rest in peace, Liam.  We love you so much.”


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry...

_To Mark:_

 

_Hey, since I’ll be out of town for the next couple of nights, would you mind inviting Ethan to stay with you?  I’m still just worried about him…_

 

_To Tyler:_

 

_Yeah, of course._

 

Ethan’s phone dinged.

 

_Hey, man.  I know Tyler's going to be out of town for a couple of nights.  Do you want to come stay here while he's gone?_

 

Ethan replied:

 

_Yeah.  That sounds good.  Thank you.  I don't really want to be alone._

 

* * *

 

Ethan got to Mark’s later and went inside.

 

Mark smiled.  “Hey.  So, I thought that Amy and Kathryn would be hanging out with us too, but I forgot that they were going to visit a friend this weekend.  So, it's just the two of us.”

 

Ethan shrugged.  “Okay.”

 

Mark sat down on the couch with him.  “How are you doing?”

 

“Better,” Ethan nodded.  “I gained back three more pounds.”

 

“Good.  That's good.  You were looking scary skinny.”

 

Ethan sighed.  “I know.  I didn't realize how physically awful I felt until I started gaining weight back.”

 

“I'm glad you're doing better.”

 

“Me too.  I mean.  Things are still…  I don't know how to put it.  Just not the same.  Just in general.  And between me and Tyler.  Not in a bad way necessarily.  It's just.  Different.”

 

Mark nodded.  “Kathryn mentioned that you guys might try again in a few more months.”

 

“Yeah.  We want to.  It's just a little scary.  Cause what if it happens again?  I don't know if I'd be able to cope,” Ethan sighed.  “Can we play a game or something?  I don't want to talk about this anymore.”

 

“Oh.  Shit.  Yeah.  I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to…”

 

“Oh, no.  It's fine.  You're fine.  Let's play Mario Kart.”

 

* * *

 

Ethan put his controller down.  “I suck at this game.”

 

“You do,” Mark laughed.

 

Ethan started giggling uncontrollably.

 

Mark looked at him.

 

“Sorry, I was just thinking about the goo jokes,” Ethan laughed.

 

“Oh, no.  Not the goo.”

 

Ethan laughed harder.

 

Mark smiled and watched him.

 

“Oh my god.  I can't remember the last time I laughed.”

 

“It's good to hear.”

 

Ethan shook his head.  “Anyway.  Do you mind if I shower?”

 

“Course not.  You know where everything is.”

 

* * *

 

Ethan came back in his pajamas after showering.

 

Mark smiled up at him.  “Movie?”

 

Ethan sat down.  “Yeah.  You can pick.”

 

Mark turned on Lord of the Rings.

 

Ethan grabbed a blanket and curled up.

 

Mark put his arm around him.

 

Ethan smiled softly.

 

A while into the movie, Mark started playing with Ethan's hair.  “Oh, now I see why Tyler always does this.  It's so soft.”

 

Ethan laughed.  “It's really puffy.”

 

“It's nice.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

Mark kept petting his hair until the movie was over.

 

Ethan yawned.  “Where do you want me to sleep.”

 

Mark shrugged.  “You could stay on the couch here.  Or if it would make you feel better, you can come sleep in my room with me.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “Um.  If you don't mind, I think I'll take you up on that.  I don't like being alone.  And Tyler doesn't like me to be alone right now either.  So.”

 

“Okay,” Mark went to his room and changed into his pajamas.

 

“Um.  Which side of the bed do you sleep on?” Ethan sat in the middle of the bed.

 

“Doesn't matter.  You pick whatever.”

 

“Okay…” Ethan moved over to the left side of the bed and laid on his side facing outwards.

 

Mark turned off the lights and got into bed.  “Sweet dreams, Ethan.”

 

“You too.”

 

Mark closed his eyes.

 

“Um.  Hey, Mark?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Do you mind if I pull all of the blankets and comforter up?  I'm freezing.”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

Ethan pulled up all of the blankets.

 

“You're still shivering.”

 

“I'll warm up.”

 

Mark moved over and spooned him.  “Body heat will help with that.”

 

Ethan tensed up.

 

“Sorry.  Do you want me to move?”

 

“No,” Ethan relaxed a little.

 

Mark hugged him tighter.

 

Ethan closed his eyes.

 

After a bit, Mark started slowly running his fingers over Ethan's chest.

 

Ethan leaned back into him.

 

Mark kissed the back of his neck.

 

“Oh.”

 

Mark pulled away.  “Sorry.  I'm sorry.  I should stop.”

 

“No.  It…  It’s fine.”

 

“Okay…  Let me know if you want me to.  Please,” Mark ran his hand down Ethan's body.

 

Ethan closed his eyes again.

 

“Are you sure about this?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Mark kissed his neck again.  “I'm going to be a little rougher with you now, if that's okay.”

 

“Yeah,” Ethan whined softly.

 

“Aw, you're a whiny little boy, huh?” Mark held his hip.

 

“Mark…” Ethan turned to face him.

 

“Too much?”

 

“No.”

 

“Good,” Mark kissed him softly.  

 

Ethan kissed him back.

 

“Mm.  I guess you wouldn't want to say no to me, would you?”

 

Ethan shook his head.

 

“Yeah.  You just love pleasing people, don't you, Ethan?” Mark stroked his hair.

 

“Yeah,” Ethan whined.

 

“You're such a good boy, aren't you?” Mark tugged on his hair gently.

 

“Mmm.  Mhmm.”

 

“Yeah.  Who's my good baby boy?” Mark grabbed his ass.

 

“Fuck.  I am,” Ethan gasped.

 

“That's right.  You are.  That little ass of yours is mine tonight.”

 

* * *

 

Ethan laid on his back afterwards and started crying.

 

“Fuck.  Ethan…  Did I hurt you?” Mark stroked his hair.

 

Ethan shook his head and buried his face in his hands.

 

“Do you…  Do you want me to go sleep on the couch?”

 

Ethan shook his head again and cuddled into Mark.

 

Mark sighed and rubbed his back as Ethan fell asleep.


	36. Chapter 36

Mark was already awake the next morning when Ethan woke up.

 

Ethan sat up and yawned.

 

“Hey…  I just wanted to say I'm really sorry about last night.  I shouldn't have…  It wasn't a good idea.”

 

Ethan shrugged.  “I would have said no if I wanted to.”

 

“But, Ethan.  I shouldn't have come onto you like that.  You're married.”

 

“Yeah, well.  I'll deal with the consequences later,” Ethan kissed him.

 

Mark pulled away.  “Ethan.”

 

“I just want to not care.  Just for today.  I need it.  I need a day of not thinking or caring.  Please just give me that,” Ethan ran his hand through his hair.  “I can't think.  It hurts to.  Please.”

 

“Okay.  Okay,” Mark hugged him tightly.  “I've got you.”

 

“Stop.  Stop thinking,” Ethan whimpered.  “Need to stop.”

 

“Shh.  It's okay.  I'm here.  I've got you, Ethan,” Mark kissed him softly.

 

Ethan kissed back.

 

Mark laid Ethan down and held his hand as he kissed him.

 

* * *

 

“Tyler's going to kill me,” Ethan cried after a round that night.

 

“He's not going to kill you,” Mark stroked his hair.

 

“He is.  He's going to kill me and I'm going to deserve it.”

 

“Baby, he's not going to kill you.  Just blame me.  Please.  I'll take all of the blame.”

 

Ethan shook his head and held Mark's hand.  “No.  I wanted it.”

 

“He doesn't have to know that.”

 

Ethan sighed.  “You're right.  This was an awful idea.  Because I don't want to leave.  I could just stay here with you.”

 

“But you can't.  You have Tyler,” Mark kissed his head.  “And I have Amy.  And we love them.”

 

Ethan nodded and sighed again.  “I don't want to blame you.”

 

“I don't care.  You need to.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because this is my fault, and I can't let you ruin your relationship with him.”

 

“It's already messed up in my head now.”

 

“Don't say that.  You love him.  You married him.  I pressured you into sleeping with me because I'm a horny bastard.  That's all.  That's what happened.”

 

Ethan shook his head.  “But it isn't what happened.  There's…  There's feelings there.”

 

“No, Ethan.  You can't say that.  Come on,” Mark sighed.  “Don't make this harder than it has to be.”

 

“But…”

 

“No.  Come on.  Let me help you.”

 

Ethan sniffled.

 

“We have the rest of the night together.  In the morning, it was all my fault, and Tyler will be mad at me and not you.”

 

“No…”

  
“Yes,” Mark kissed him deeply.


	37. Chapter 37

Ethan looked up when Tyler got home the next day.

 

“Hey, you.  I missed you,” Tyler sat down and kissed him.

 

“Missed you too.”

 

“You've been crying…”

 

Ethan shrugged.

 

“What's wrong?”

 

“I…  Um.  I slept with Mark.”

 

Tyler stared at him for a minute before grabbing his keys and standing up.

 

“Tyler…  Let me explain.”

 

“I don't need you to explain.”

 

“Please don't leave me.”

 

“I'm not,” Tyler left and slammed the door.

 

* * *

 

Tyler pounded on Mark's door.

 

Mark opened the door.  “Hey, you're back.  How was the trip?”

 

Tyler grabbed Mark by his shirt.  “How.  Dare.  You.”

 

“I…”

 

“Shut up,” Tyler walked Mark backwards until he had him pinned against a wall.  “I cannot believe you!  I trusted you!  I trusted you with him!  I asked you to look after him because of his current mental state, and instead you take advantage of him!”

 

“I'm sorry.  I'm sorry.  It was a mistake.  It won't happen again.”

 

“You're damn right it won't!  Because you're never going to touch him again.  Ever.  Under any circumstance.”

 

“I'm so sorry, Tyler.  I don't know what got into me.”

 

“You're my best friend.  I trusted you.”

 

“I know.  I…  I feel awful.”

 

“And of all times.  Now.  When he's so fragile,” Tyler shook his head and slapped Mark across the face.

 

Mark gasped.  “I deserved that.”

 

“You deserve worse.”

 

“Please stop,” Ethan said from behind Tyler.

 

“Stay out of this, Ethan,” Tyler said without turning around.

 

“I can't let you do this.  It's not his fault.  I wanted it too.”

 

“Yeah, right,” Tyler turned around to look at him.

 

“It's true.  He didn't take advantage of me at all.”

 

“You don't have to lie, Ethan,” Mark rubbed his cheek where Tyler slapped it.  “I'm an adult.  I can own up to my mistakes.”

 

Ethan looked at him.  “I can't let you do this.”

 

“Ethan,” Mark shook his head.

 

“It's my fault too,” Ethan turned back at Tyler.  “I was in a bad place, and I needed someone.  And he was there.  And he made me feel better.  And he took care of me.  And now he's trying to lie about what happened so you won't hate me.”

 

Tyler looked at Mark, who had tears in his eyes.  “Ethan, let me talk to Mark alone for a minute.”

 

“Please don't hit him again.”

 

“I won't.”

 

Ethan nodded and left the room.

 

Tyler sat down.  “Okay.  You going to tell me the truth now?”

 

Mark shrugged.  “I stand by what I said.  It's my fault.  I take full responsibility.  I know he wanted it, but I'm the one who instigated it.  And I shouldn't have.  And I'm so sorry, Tyler.”

 

Tyler sighed.

 

“Please don't blame Ethan.  I can live if you hate me.  But I can't if you hate him.”

 

“Why do you care so much?”

 

“Because you're my best friends.  And I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I let my feelings get in the way of you and Ethan.”

 

“So you admit you have feelings for him?”

 

Mark shrugged.  “Look, I support your relationship one-hundred percent.  But I'm not going to deny that, yeah.  There's feelings there.”

 

Tyler looked away.  “Do you love him?”

 

“I…  Don't ask me that.”

 

“So you do.”

 

“...yeah.”

 

“Does he love you?”

 

“I don't know.”

 

“Hm.”

 

“What are you thinking about right now?” Mark asked cautiously.

 

Tyler shrugged.  “I just remembered how you and I used to feel about each other.”

 

“Yeah…  So long ago…”

 

Tyler nodded.

 

“Do you still feel…?”

 

“I don't know what I'm feeling right now.”

 

Ethan peeked into the room.  “Can I come back in?”

 

Tyler shrugged and rested his head in his hands.

 

Ethan sat down on the floor.

 

“Does Amy know?” Tyler looked at Mark.

 

“Yeah.  We have a sort of open relationship.”

 

“Right.”

 

Ethan looked up at Tyler.  “So…  Do you hate me now?”

 

“Of course not, Ethan.  I could never really hate either of you.  I just don't know what to think right now.  I'm not sure what the protocol is for when your husband is in love with a man you used to love.”

 

“What?”

 

“We've told you about that.”

 

Ethan shook his head.  “I think I would have remembered that.”

 

“Oh.  Well.  Yeah.  We were a thing for a while back in the day,” Mark said.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Things got complicated.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because of you,” Tyler looked at Ethan.

 

“Because of me?”

 

Tyler shrugged.  “I fell in love with you the second I saw you.”

 

“Well this just got significantly more difficult,” Ethan sighed.  “Do you guys still…  Like.  Have feelings for each other?”

 

Mark looked over at Tyler.

 

“I don't know.  Maybe,” Tyler stared at the floor.

 

“I do,” Mark sighed.

 

“You do?” Tyler looked up.

 

“Well, yeah.  And for the record, now that this is all out in the open anyway, our relationship didn't get complicated just because you fell for Ethan.  It's because I also fell for Ethan.”

 

“So.  Let me get this straight.  What we're saying here is that all three of us are basically in love with each other?” Ethan ran a hand through his hair.

 

Tyler sighed heavily.  “So, what do we do?”

 

“What are the options?” Mark asked.

 

“I don't even fucking know.  I want to say just go back to normal, but I don't think that can happen now.  There's too much…  Stuff.  All out in the open to just forget about it.”

 

“Would you guys be opposed to being in an open relationship?  All three of us?” Ethan asked quietly.

 

Mark nodded.  “I'd be down for that.”

 

Tyler huffed.  “Of course you would.”

 

Ethan looked at Tyler.  “Ty?”

 

“I don't know…  Maybe.  I guess.  I don't know.”

 

“How would this work?” Ethan tilted his head to the side.

 

“Well, I’d imagine that you two would stay married, and everything there would stay the same, just like it does with me and Amy.  And then yeah.  I don't know.  Sometimes all three of us could be together or just two of us.  It can work however.”

 

Ethan nodded slowly.  “I'm liking this.  Tyler?”

 

“Yeah…  I guess.  I think it could work.”

 

“Really?”

 

“If it would help make everyone happy, yeah.”

 

Ethan went over and hugged him.  “I love you.”

 

“I love you too,” Tyler kissed his hair.

 

“Well.  This is not where I thought this day would go,” Mark chuckled.

 

“I'm still a little mad at you guys,” Tyler said.

 

“Rightly so.”

 

Tyler rolled his eyes.  “Get over here.”

 

Mark went and sat by them. 

 

Tyler hugged him.  “Still my best friend though.”

 

Mark smiled.  “And you're mine.”

 

“This going to take some getting used to,” Tyler held both of them.

 

“I think it'll be fun,” Ethan grinned.

 

Tyler kissed his cheek.  “I haven't seen you smile like that in so long.”

  
Ethan shrugged.  “I'm excited.  What do we do first?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started writing this fic, this is not where I thought it would go. I like it though. I'm sorry if this isn't where you wanted this story to go, but. You know. Things happen sometimes.


	38. Chapter 38

“Mark's here!” Ethan ran to the door when the doorbell rang a couple of months later.  He opened the door with a grin.  “Mark!”

 

“Hey, cutie,” Mark kissed him.

 

Tyler came out of the kitchen.  “Hey, dude.  Dinner should be ready soon.”

 

Mark smiled.  “What're you making?”

 

“Some pasta.”

 

“Sounds great.”

 

Tyler winked before going back into the kitchen.

 

Ethan wrapped his arms around Mark.  “We have some news to tell you at dinner.”

 

“Can't wait to hear it,” Mark kissed the tip of his nose.

 

Ethan giggled.  “It's really good news.”

 

“Even better then.”

 

Tyler came back a few minutes later.  “Dinner is served.”

 

The three of them went and sat at the kitchen table and started eating.

 

“So.  What's this news?” Mark asked.

 

Ethan looked at Tyler and grinned.

 

Tyler laughed.  “You can go ahead and tell him, babe.”

 

“Okay.  Um.  Kathryn's pregnant again.  And everything's going great.  So, we should have our baby in like eight months.”

 

“Oh my god!  Congratulations, guys!  I'm so happy for you.”

 

Tyler smiled.  “I have a good feeling this time.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “Me too.”

 

“That's awesome!  I'm so excited,” Mark grinned.

 

They finished dinner a while later and went to the tv room.  

 

“What movie?” Tyler asked.

 

“I'm feeling like some ridiculous cheesy romantic movie,” Ethan sat between Tyler and Mark.

 

Tyler laughed.  “Sounds good to me.  What about Titanic?”

 

Mark and Ethan both nodded.

 

Tyler turned the movie on and put a blanket over all three of them.

 

Ethan leaned on Mark's shoulder.

 

Mark smiled and wrapped his arm around him.  

 

Ethan grinned.  “I love you guys so much.”

 

Tyler took his hand.  “Love you too, babe.”

 

Mark kissed his head.  “Me too.”

 

Ethan paused the movie a little later.  “Sorry, but I really gotta pee,” he stood up and went to the bathroom.

 

Tyler chuckled and shook his head.

 

Mark smiled and watched Ethan walk off.  “He sure is something.”

 

“He is.”

 

“You're so lucky.  You just get to like.  Look at him all day every day.”

 

“Yeah, it's a pretty sweet deal,” Tyler smiled at him.

 

“I could just look at him all day.  He's too fucking cute,” Mark sighed and moved closer to Tyler and leaned on him.  “I could just look at you all day too.  So fucking handsome.”

 

Tyler rolled his eyes and put his arm around him.

 

Mark looked up at him.

 

Tyler kissed him.

 

Mark smiled and kissed back.

 

Ethan came back and pouted.  “Without me?”

 

Tyler pulled away from Mark and smirked up at Ethan.  “Jealous?”

 

“Insanely.”

 

“Too bad,” Tyler kissed Mark again.

 

“Mm,” Mark held onto Tyler's thigh.

 

“Stop,” Ethan whined.

 

“Aww, poor baby,” Mark looked up.  “Be good and let me and Tyler have some fun for a minute, okay?”

 

Ethan sat down on the coffee table.

 

Mark straddled Tyler's lap and kissed him deeply.

 

Tyler groaned and gripped Mark’s shirt.

 

Ethan watched them, bouncing his knee.

 

Mark moved to suck on Tyler's neck.

 

Ethan whined again.  “Let me in.”

 

Mark pulled away and looked Tyler in the eyes.  “Tyler…  Baby boy’s not being good.  What should we do with him?”

 

“A time out in bed might be a good punishment,” Tyler nodded.

 

Mark moved off of him and they both stood up.

 

Tyler picked Ethan up over his shoulder and carried him to the bedroom with Mark following.

 

“What are you guys doing?” Ethan looked between them.

 

Tyler put him down and undressed him, leaving only his boxers.  “On the bed,” he ordered Ethan as he looked through a dresser drawer.

 

Ethan warily climbed on the bed and sat down.

 

Tyler came back with a necktie and tied Ethan's hands to the headboard.

 

“Tyler.  No.  Don't,” Ethan whined.

 

“If you keep being bad, you're just going to be in timeout longer,” Mark whispered in Ethan's ear as he stripped down to his underwear.

 

Tyler undressed as well before getting on the bed.

 

Mark moved over to him and kissed him deeply again.

 

Tyler groaned and grabbed Mark's ass.

 

“Guys,” Ethan kicked his legs a little.

 

Tyler ignored him and kept making out with Mark.

 

A little bit later, Mark pulled Tyler's boxers down and looked up at him.

 

Tyler nodded.  “Please.”

 

After Tyler and Mark had both finished, they looked over at Ethan, who was whimpering in the corner of the bed.

 

“Please untie me.”

 

Tyler crawled over to him and untied him.

 

Ethan rubbed his wrists and winced.

 

“Aww, baby,” Mark pushed Ethan's hair back.

  
Tyler rubbed Ethan's thigh.  “It's okay, sweetie.  We'll take care of you.”


	39. Chapter 39

Ethan laid on his back between Tyler and Mark.  “Oh my god.  That was amazing,” he panted.

 

Tyler kissed his cheek.  “Told you we would take good care of you.”

 

“Fuck.  That was so hot.  And just.  Watching you guys before was just.  So hot.  Oh my god.”

 

Mark chuckled and rubbed his arm.  “Glad you like this.”

 

“I do.  I really do.”

 

Tyler kissed him softly.  “Love you, baby.”

 

Ethan grinned.  “I love you too.”

 

Tyler reached over Ethan to take Mark's hand.  “You're not so bad either.”

 

Mark winked and squeezed his hand.  “Love you too, Tyler.”

 

Tyler smiled.

 

“Can Mark move in with us?” Ethan looked at Tyler.

 

“Um,” Tyler looked at Mark.

 

“Oh, I don't know.  That might be crossing too much of a line.  I don't want to take away from your guys’ relationship any more than I already am,” Mark rubbed Ethan's thigh.

 

Tyler shrugged.  “I don't think you would be.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “I think it would be good.  You could obviously have your own room and stuff.  We have plenty of space.”

 

Tyler shrugged again.  “I'd be totally okay with that.”

 

“Really?” Mark looked between them.

 

Tyler and Ethan nodded. 

 

“I don't know.  I'll think about it.”

 

“Okay.  Do you guys wanna shower and then go to bed?” Ethan stood up.

 

* * *

 

After showering, they changed the sheets and got into bed. 

 

Ethan climbed between them and laid down on his side facing Mark.  “I gotta be in the middle.”

 

Tyler smiled and spooned him.  

 

Ethan giggled and held his arms out for Mark.

 

Mark pulled the covers over all of them and moved closer.  He put his arm over Ethan and rested his hand on Tyler's side.

 

Ethan kissed Mark’s nose.

 

Mark smiled.  “You're the cutest baby.”

 

Ethan rolled his eyes.

 

“You are and you know it.”

 

“Noooo.”

 

Tyler tightened his arm around Ethan.  “You're so spoiled.”

 

Ethan giggled.  “I know.”

 

Mark smirked.  “Yeah.  Your ‘daddy’ and I do love to spoil you.”

 

Ethan blushed bright red.  “I was really hoping you didn't hear that earlier…”

 

“Oh, I heard it,” Mark laughed.

 

“It started as a joke…”

 

“But then I said I liked it,” Tyler kissed Ethan's head.

 

Mark chuckled.  “It's cute.”

 

Ethan sighed.

 

Mark kissed him softly.

 

Ethan smiled.

  
“Let's go to sleep.”


	40. Chapter 40

Mark looked around the kitchen the next morning while he and Tyler were making breakfast.  “Hey, Ty.  Where can I find a knife?”

 

“Oh, sorry,” Tyler unlocked a drawer and opened it.  “Take whatever you need.”

 

Mark frowned and looked into the drawer filled with knives, scissors, and other sharp objects.  “Baby-proofing the house already?” he chuckled.

 

Tyler bit his lip.  “Ah, no.  Ethan-proofing.”

 

Mark looked over at him.  “Oh.”

 

Tyler nodded.  “He…  He had a rough time after Liam…”

 

“I.  Yeah.  I saw the scars on his thighs…” Mark leaned against the counter.

 

“Yeah.  It was bad.  And he likes to pretend they aren't there,” Tyler sighed.  “I got home one day not long after and found him…  So I locked up everything sharp.”

 

Mark hugged him.

 

Tyler rubbed his back.  “And I know he's better now, but I still don't trust that he's better enough for me to unlock it.”

 

Mark nodded.  “I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to bring that up.”

 

Tyler shrugged.  “You didn't know.”

 

Mark kissed his cheek.

 

Tyler smiled a little.

 

“I'm going to go wake him up, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Tyler kept working on breakfast.

 

Mark went back to the bedroom and sat on the bed.  “Hey,” he ran his fingers through Ethan's hair.  “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

 

Ethan whined and looked up at him.

 

“Good morning, sunshine,” Mark smiled and kissed his forehead.

 

Ethan grinned.  “Hi.”

 

Mark chuckled and kissed him.  “Hi.  I love you.”

 

“I love you too,” Ethan giggled and sat up.

 

Mark smiled at him and kissed his forehead again.  “You're so beautiful,” he ran his hands down Ethan's sides.

 

“And you're being weird.”

 

“No, I'm not.  I just love you a lot.”

 

“But you usually don't say it that much.  What's going on?”

 

Mark shrugged and kissed him quickly again.  “I just love you an extra lot this morning.”

 

Ethan looked at him.  “Oh.  I know what's going on.  The kitchen drawer,” he sighed and got out of bed.

 

“Ethan…”

 

Ethan shook his head and put some boxers on.  “I don't want to talk about it.”

 

“I didn't say you had to.  Just come here, okay?”

 

Ethan sighed and went over to stand in front of him.

 

Mark sat on the edge of the bed and took Ethan's hands in his own.  “You are one of the most beautiful, talented, funniest, sweetest, and best people I know.  And I love you so fucking much.”

 

Ethan sniffled.

 

Mark rubbed his thumbs over the scars on one of Ethan's thighs.  “And no matter what bad things may happen, this isn't the answer.  I don't ever want to see this again.”

 

Ethan nodded and hugged him.

 

“It's okay.  Don't cry.  I've got you,” Mark held him tightly.  “You are so important to me, Ethan.  And so many other people.  Please don't ever hurt yourself.”

 

Ethan nodded again.  “I love you.”

 

“I love you too,” Mark kissed his shoulder.

 

Tyler poked his head in.  “Hey, babes.  Breakfast is ready.”

 

Ethan looked up and went over and hugged him tightly.

 

Tyler kissed his head.  “Morning, sweetheart.”

 

“I love you, Tyler.”

  
“I love you too, Ethan.  So much.”


	41. Chapter 41

Tyler and Mark were in the middle of making out in bed one night when Ethan poked his head in.  

 

“Uh.  Guys.”

 

Tyler huffed and pulled away from Mark.  “What this time?”

 

“I uh.  I'm scared.  I heard a noise.”

 

“That's why you have Chica with you.  She'll protect you,” Mark said.

 

“She's scared too,” Ethan opened the door and let Chica in Mark’s room.

 

“Really, Ethan?” Tyler sighed and sat up.  “You do this every time it's mine and Mark’s night to be together.”

 

“But I can't sleep…”

 

“Poor baby,” Mark held his arms out.

 

Ethan climbed onto the bed and crawled in between Tyler and Mark.

 

Mark hugged him tightly.

 

Tyler rolled his eyes.

 

“I'm sorry.  I just don't like being alone,” Ethan pouted.

 

Tyler sighed.  “I'm sorry.  But this has to be the last time.  I don't crash your nights with Mark.  And he doesn't interrupt our nights.  Tomorrow you need to suck it up and sleep by yourself,” Tyler cuddled him.

 

“Okay…”

 

* * *

 

The next night, after watching a movie, the three of them got up to go to bed.

 

“Um.  Ty?  Can you come tuck me in?” Ethan stopped in the hallway.

 

“Sure, baby,” Tyler followed him into the bedroom.

 

Ethan climbed into bed and got under the covers.

 

Tyler sat down and put his hand on Ethan's chest.  “You okay?”

 

Ethan shrugged.

 

“What's bothering you, Eth?”

 

“A lot of things.”

 

Tyler kissed his forehead.  “You can tell me, sweetheart.”

 

Ethan shrugged again.

 

“Why have you been so clingy lately?” Tyler rubbed Ethan's arm.  “I thought you didn't like being treated like a kid, but lately it's like you're our baby.”

 

“I don't know…”

 

“And don't get me wrong, I love that you're our baby.  But at the same time, we're going to have an actual baby soon.  So we can't keep babying you.  We need to all be adults.”

 

Ethan sighed.  “I'm scared, Tyler.”

 

“Of what?” Tyler laid down with him.

 

“That we'll lose this baby too.  Or that it'll be born and I'll be a bad father and mess everything up.  And I don't like being left alone with those thoughts.”

 

“Oh, Eth…” Tyler hugged him.  “Just…  I don't know.  Cause I'm scared too.  But we'll be okay.  We have each other.  And we have Mark living with us now which is a great thing.  And we have all of the rest of our friends and family that are here for us.  So no matter what happens, we'll be okay.”

 

Ethan nodded and kissed his cheek.  “I know.  Thank you.”

 

“We're going to be the best dads ever, babe,” Tyler smiled.

 

Ethan giggled.  “I think you're right.”

 

“Love you.”

 

“Love you too.  Now go away.  It's Mark’s night.”

 

“Sure you're okay?”

 

Ethan nodded.  “I've got Chica.”

 

Tyler smiled and kissed his cheek.  “Night babe.”

 

* * *

 

Mark smiled when Tyler came into the room.  “He okay?”

 

Tyler nodded and sat down next to him.

 

“Good.  Are you okay?”

 

Tyler laid down and rubbed Mark's knee.  “Yeah.  Ethan’s just worried about the baby.  About the possibility of another miscarriage.  About being a father.  And I am too.  I'm pretty terrified actually.”

 

Mark ran his fingers through Tyler's hair.  “You'll be the most amazing dad, Tyler.  You have nothing to worry about.”

 

“Thanks,” Tyler chuckled.  “I hope so.  I'm so excited for this baby.”

 

“Are you guys going to find out the sex this time?”

 

“No, I don't think so.  We want it to be a surprise.”

 

Mark smiled.  “I'm excited for this baby too.  I'm so happy that you guys got this second chance.”

 

Tyler nodded.  “Such a blessing.”

 

Mark laid down, facing Tyler.

 

Tyler kissed him and started rubbing his back.  “Seriously though, I'm so incredibly happy right now.  I love our set up.  I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do.”

 

“It's worked out really well for all five of us.”

 

“It has,” Tyler kissed him again.

 

Mark kissed back.  “Mm.  I can't believe I didn't realize how much I missed being with you like this all of this time.”

 

Tyler shrugged.  “Doesn't matter.  We're here now.”

  
“Indeed, we are.  And I plan on savoring every second,” Mark kissed him deeply.


	42. Chapter 42

Mark was laying on the couch by himself when Ethan walked in.

 

Ethan went over and curled up with him.

 

“Hey, cuddlebug,” Mark put his arm around him.

 

“Hey,” Ethan leaned on him.  “How are you doing?”

 

Mark shrugged.  “Okay, I guess.”

 

“I'm really sorry about you and Amy…”

 

“It's okay.  It was a mutual breakup.  We're still okay.”

 

“I just feel like it's my fault.”

 

“Oh.  Ethan.  No.  It's not your fault,” Mark kissed his head.  “We've been drifting apart for a while.  But it's okay anyway.  We're all still friends.”

 

Ethan hugged him.  “Breakups still suck.”

 

Mark nodded.  “Yeah.  It does suck.  But I have you and Tyler still.  And Amy's got Kathryn.  So we're all still happy.”

 

Ethan kissed his cheek.  “Okay…  I'm actually going over there to hangout with Kathryn.  I just wanted to check on you first.”

 

Mark chuckled.  “Ethan.  You don't have to make sure with me before you see them.  We're adults.  It's okay.  Really.”

 

“Still,” Ethan shrugged and stood up.  “I think Tyler has quite the night planned for you two.  Have fun with that.  He never disappoints.”

 

“Oh, I'm aware,” Mark winked and laughed.

 

Ethan giggled and leaned down to kiss him.

 

Mark patted Ethan’s ass.  “Okay, I love you.  Now get out of here.  I was trying to watch this show.”

 

Ethan rolled his eyes and left.

 

* * *

 

Ethan got to Amy and Kathryn’s place a while later.

 

Amy let him in.  “Hey.  How's Mark?”

 

Ethan shrugged.  “Okay.  Still joking around and shit.  But I know he's sad.”

 

Amy nodded.

 

“How are you?”

 

“Sad.  But yeah.  It's for the best.  And I don't think anything around here will change because of this.  So that's a good thing.”

 

Ethan nodded and went to hug Kathryn.  “Hey, baby mama.”

 

Kathryn laughed.  “Hey.”

 

Ethan sat down and put his hand on Kathryn's stomach.  “How you doing in there, little one?”

 

“They're doing good,” Kathryn smiled.  “Only a few weeks left.  You must be getting really excited, huh?”

 

Ethan nodded.  “I'm so excited.  It's like all we talk about anymore.  The three of us set up the nursery this weekend.”

 

“Have you guys settled on names yet?”

 

“Yeah,” Ethan grinned and rubbed her belly.  “Lexi if it's a girl.  Or Jackson if it's a boy.”

 

“Love them both.  What was the other girl name you guys had been talking about? I liked that one too.”

 

“Zoey.”

 

“Right.  Zoey’s cute too.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “It is.  But Tyler likes Lexi better.  And I like both a lot.  So we decided on Lexi.”

 

Amy sat down with them.  “Is it going to be short for anything?  Alexa, Alexis, Alexandra?”

 

“We're torn between Alexis and Alexandra.  Ty likes Alexis.  Mark and I like Alexandra.  So we haven't come to a decision on that yet.  What do you guys think?”

 

“Alexandra,” Amy nodded.

 

“Yeah, I agree with that,” Kathryn smiled.

 

“Well then it's four to one,” Ethan chuckled.  “But it might not matter.  Might be a boy.”

 

“Might be,” Kathryn put her feet up on the coffee table.

 

“Either way, I can't wait.”

 

“Neither can I.  I'm ready to get this baby out of here.”

 

Ethan cuddled her.  “I seriously can't thank you enough for doing this.”

 

Kathryn smiled.  “You guys owe me big time.”

 

“Oh, I know.”

 

“I'm kidding, Ethan.”

 

“Doesn't matter.  We totally do owe you the world now.”

 

“I'll think of something if it would make you feel better.”

 

Ethan laughed.  “Okay.  Sounds good.”

 

* * *

 

Mark laid his head on Tyler's chest, panting.

 

Tyler rubbed his back.  “That was good.  Really good.  Fuck.”

 

“Yeah.  It was.  Thank you.  I needed this.”

 

Tyler smiled.  “Come here.”

 

Mark leaned up on his elbow.

 

Tyler cupped his face and kissed him.

 

Mark kissed back.

 

Tyler smiled as he pulled away.

 

Mark laid back down.

 

Tyler went back to rubbing his back.

 

Mark sighed.

 

“What are you thinking about?”

 

“You and Ethan.  How much I love having you guys in my life.”

 

“We feel the same way, babe.”

 

Mark smiled. “Shower and bed?”

 

Tyler stretched out.  “Sounds good to me.”

 

* * *

 

Ethan cracked open the door when he got home that night.  “Hey.  I'm home, guys.”

 

Mark looked up and smiled.  “Go put your pajamas on and then come here.”

 

“I don't want to intrude on your night.”

 

“We want you to this time,” Tyler hugged Mark.

 

“Okay,” Ethan chuckled and went to his and Tyler's room.  He came back a few minutes later and crawled between Tyler and Mark.

 

Mark hugged him tightly.

 

“Hi.  How was your night?” Ethan kissed his cheek.

 

“Really good.  How are Amy and Kathryn?”

 

“They're good.  Kathryn's ready to have the baby.  I think we all are,” Ethan laughed.

 

Tyler nodded and spooned Ethan.  “That's for sure.”

 

Mark smiled.  “So.  What would you guys think about the three of us coming out publicly about our relationship?” he asked a few minutes later.

 

Ethan frowned.  “I don't know…”

 

“I think I'd be okay with that,” Tyler said.  “I mean.  What do we have to hide?”

 

“I guess that's true,” Ethan nodded.  “If you make a video about it, I want it to be all three of us in the video though.”

 

“Yeah.  Of course.”

 

“Then yeah.  We can do that.”

 

“It's just that you guys are so important to me, and I want to be able to share that with everyone,” Mark ran his fingers through Ethan’s hair.

 

Ethan smiled and kissed him softly.

 

Tyler put his hand on Mark's side.

  
Mark leaned his and Ethan's foreheads together.  “I love you guys.”


	43. Chapter 43

Tyler, Ethan, and Mark sat on the couch after Mark posted his video.

 

“What do you think people will say?” Ethan held Tyler's hand and played with his ring.

 

“I think it'll be a mixed reaction,” Tyler put his free hand on Mark's knee.

 

Mark nodded.  “There's been people all along that have shipped the three of us together, so they'll be happy.  Some people will say they don't care who we're with as long as we're happy.  Others will criticize.  But it's okay.”

 

“Cause we're happy.  And that's what matters,” Ethan smiled.

 

“Exactly,” Mark looked over at him.  “I'm just glad I'll be able to take you guys out on real dates,” he chuckled.

 

“That'll be fun,” Tyler smiled. 

 

Ethan scanned through the comments on the video.  “Yeah.  It's mixed reviews here.”

 

“Just don't even worry about it, Eth,” Mark reached over Tyler to take Ethan's phone and put it on the coffee table.  “We don't need their approval to love each other.”

 

Ethan sighed.  “I know.  I just don't like when people aren't happy.”

 

“I know, babe.”

 

* * *

 

Mark laid down with Ethan that night.

 

Ethan hugged him.

 

Mark smiled and kissed his forehead.  “I love you so much.”

 

Ethan leaned up on his elbow.  “I love you too.”

 

“I think choosing to be with you and Tyler is the best decision I've ever made.”

 

Ethan kissed his cheek and laid back down.  “So I totally forgot that I've never asked about you and Tyler dating in the past.”

 

“What about it?”

 

Ethan shrugged.  “Just.  Tell me about it.  I'm curious about it.”

 

“Okay,” Mark wrapped his arm around him.  “Well.  We were together for about two years before we met you.  It was kind of weird.  Cause nobody knew we were together besides the two of us.  So it made it hard.  I also never really felt like we were on the same page.”

 

“Same page how?  Like did you feel like one of you was just in it for the sex or something?”

 

“We never had sex.”

 

Ethan frowned and sat up.  “Seriously?”

 

Mark chuckled.  “Seriously.  It was never about that.  For either of us.  It was more that we both loved each other.  No doubt.  But.  I don't know.  Something never quite clicked.”

 

“And then you guys met me.”

 

“Yeah.  And Amy.  You two are the reason Tyler and I broke up.”

 

“Oops.  Can't say I'm sorry.”

 

Mark kissed his head.  “Neither can I.  And my relationship with Tyler now is better now than it was then.”

 

“Maybe the problem before was the lack of sex,” Ethan joked.

 

Mark laughed.  “Maybe it was.”

 

“I'm kidding.  But I'm glad it's better.  We all work well together.”

  
Mark smiled.  “We do.”


	44. Chapter 44

Ethan came running into the living room.  “Kathryn's in labor.  Guys.  Kathryn's in labor.  And they.  Her and Amy are on their way to the hospital.”

 

Tyler stood up.  “Oh my God.”

 

“We gotta go now because Amy said the baby's going to be born really really soon.”

 

“How long has she been in labor?” Mark asked.

 

“I don't know.  Several hours, I guess.”

 

“Okay, well let's go,” Mark stood up.

 

Tyler stared at Ethan for a second before picking him up and kissing him deeply.

 

Ethan giggled.  “Let's go meet our baby.”

 

* * *

 

After a little while of waiting at the hospital, Amy came into the waiting room, grinning.  “Congratulations, dads.”

 

Tyler, Ethan, and Mark stood up.

 

“Everything went good?” Ethan asked.

 

“Everything went perfect,” Amy said.  “Come on,” she led them back to Kathryn's room.

 

Kathryn looked up from the baby and smiled.  “Hey.  Come meet your daughter.”

 

Ethan sat on the bed next to her.  “Oh my god.  She's so little!”

 

Kathryn handed the baby to him.  “She's beautiful, Ethan.  Congratulations.”

 

Tyler hugged Kathryn and gently and kissed her head.  “Thank you so much.”

 

Kathryn smiled up at him.  “She was so worth it.”

 

“She's perfect,” Ethan sniffed.

 

Tyler looked over Ethan's shoulder.  “She is.  Little Lexi.”

 

“I have one request, if you don't mind,” Kathryn said.

 

“Anything,” Ethan nodded.

 

“Can her middle name be Kathryn?”

 

Ethan looked at Tyler.

 

“Alexandra Kathryn.”

 

“Yeah.  It's perfect,” Ethan laughed.  “Everything is perfect.”

 

Tyler held Lexi’s hand.  “Hi, sweet girl.”

 

Lexi yawned and looked up at him.

 

Tyler grinned and looked up at Ethan.

 

“This is so surreal.”

 

Tyler leaned up and kissed him softly.  “Our little family.”

 

“I really don't ever want to put her down, but do you want to hold her?”

 

“Sure,” Tyler chuckled.

 

Ethan handed Lexi to him and wiped his eyes.

 

Tyler sat down and started talking to the baby.

 

Ethan stood up and went by Mark.

 

Mark hugged him tightly.  “Congratulations, babe.”

 

Ethan giggled.  “Thank you.”

 

“She's beautiful.  Just like you,” Mark whispered.

 

Ethan smiled and kissed his cheek.

 

“Tyler seems like a natural with babies.”

 

“Yeah.  He'll be an amazing dad.  I don't know about me.”

 

“You'll be a great dad, Eth.”

 

“I hope so,” Ethan sighed.  He went back by Tyler and put his hand on his shoulder.

 

“She's sleepy,” Tyler looked up at him.

 

“Oh, I'm sure.  Being born must be tough, huh baby girl?” Ethan leaned down and stroked her head.  “She has so much hair already.”

 

“It's adorable.  She looks so much like you, Ethan,” Tyler said.

 

“I see it a little.”

 

“She's amazing.”

 

Ethan leaned his chin on Tyler's shoulder.  “I could just look at her forever.”

 

Tyler nodded.

  
Ethan kissed Tyler's cheek and then looked around the room.  “I love our family.”


	45. Chapter 45

Ethan sat holding Lexi at home a few days later.  “So.  What is she going to call us?” he asked Tyler.  “We can't both be ‘dad,’ right?”

 

“Hm,” Tyler tickled Lexi’s foot.  “What if you're ‘daddy' and I'm ‘papa?’”

 

Ethan shrugged.  “Works for me.  What about you guys?” he turned to Mark, Amy, and Kathryn.

 

“Should we just be aunts and uncle?” Kathryn asked.

 

Amy and Mark nodded.  “I'm good with that,” Amy said.

 

“Cute.  Uncle Mark, Aunt Amy, and Aunt Kat,” Ethan smiled and kissed Lexi's forehead.

 

“Hey, you guys should have like a party to celebrate her arrival.  Invite all of your friends and family.  Since there was no baby shower or anything,” Kathryn said.

 

“Huh.  That's a good idea.  What do you think, babe?” Tyler put his arm around Ethan.

 

Ethan nodded.  “Yeah.  That's an awesome idea, Kathryn.  And you can all invite your families too.  Cause we're all family here.”

 

“That's sweet, Ethan,” Amy smiled.

 

Ethan sighed as Lexi started crying.  He stood up and carried her over by the window and rocked her gently.

 

Mark got up and went over by him.  “Hey, here's her pacifier.”

 

“Oh, thanks,” Ethan kissed his cheek and gave Lexi the pacifier.  “There we go.  All better now, baby girl.”

 

Mark smiled and put his arm around Ethan's waist.

 

Tyler got his phone out and took a picture of them and posted it, along with another picture he had taken of Lexi.

 

‘Just when I thought it wasn't possible to love any more than I already do, something extraordinary happened.  This sweet little girl was brought into our lives a few days ago.  She is absolutely amazing.  After losing Liam last year left us so broken, Lexi has mended our hearts and filled us with so much joy.  Starting our journey into parenthood is such an exciting time for Ethan and I, and we are incredibly lucky to have Mark by our sides.  I love these three people more than I ever thought it was possible.  The amount can't be expressed in words.  Thank you to Ethan and Mark for loving me and for letting me love you.  I look forward to continuing our lives together in this beautiful new chapter.  #SmileAlways - I know I will with these three around.’

 

Mark saw Tyler's post and showed Ethan.

 

Ethan sniffed and looked back at Tyler.  “We love you too, babe.  So so much.” 

 

Tyler got up and went over to them.  He kissed both of their foreheads and hugged them.  

 

Ethan handed Lexi to him.  “Here.  Let me take a picture of you two.”

 

Tyler chuckled.  “Okay.”

 

Ethan took their picture and posted it.

 

‘Hot dad ;)’

 

Mark rolled his eyes when he saw it and showed Tyler.

 

Tyler laughed.  “You have a way with words, Ethan.”

 

Ethan winked at him and then posted another picture of just Lexi.

  
‘She stole my heart the second I saw her.  Welcome to the world, Alexandra Scheid.’


	46. Chapter 46

Ethan sat down between Tyler and Mark.  “Hi.”

 

Mark put his arm around him.  “What's up cuddlebug?”

 

“Your moms both know about our relationship situation, right?”

 

Tyler and Mark both nodded.

 

“And how do they feel about it?”

 

“My mom doesn't quite understand it, but she's still supportive of me.  And she says that I'm lucky to have found not one, but two people that love me so much,” Tyler said.

 

Mark nodded.  “Yeah, my mom's pretty much the same.”

 

Ethan sighed.

 

Tyler took Ethan's hand.  “Still having trouble with your mom?”

 

“Yeah.  We aren't really on speaking terms.  She doesn't really approve of this.  And fun story, she was pushing me to have kids, but now she thinks I'm too young to have a baby.”

 

“I'm sorry, baby,” Tyler kissed his head.  “She's coming to the party this weekend though, isn't she?”

 

“Yep.  I don't know why.  So she can just pout in the corner the whole time?” Ethan rolled his eyes.

 

“Maybe she'll be fine,” Mark squeezed his side.

 

Ethan shrugged.  “Your moms will be here later today, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

* * *

 

Tyler opened the door for Mark's mom later that evening.

 

“Tyler, so nice to see you, sweetheart,” Mark's mom hugged him.

 

Tyler smiled.  “You too.  Come on in.  Make yourself at home.”

 

She walked into the house and Tyler shut the door behind her.

 

“Mark and Ethan are giving the baby a bath.  She had a little um.  Situation.  But they should be done soon.  Can I get you a drink?”

 

“Oh, no thank you, dear.  I'm okay.”

 

Ethan and Mark came downstairs with Lexi.

 

Ethan gasped.  “Lexi, look who's here!  It’s Grandmaiplier!”

 

Mark laughed and hugged his mom.

 

“Oh, she's precious!” Mark's mom smiled at Lexi.

 

“Yeah, now that she doesn't have vomit all over her, she's pretty cute,” Ethan joked.  “Do you want to hold her?”

 

Mark's mom nodded and Ethan handed Lexi to her.

 

Tyler went to the door when his parents knocked a minute later.  “Mom!  Dad!”

 

They both hugged him.

 

“Come on in.  Mark's mom just got here too.”

 

Ethan walked over to them and hugged them.  “It's so good to see you guys.”

 

“You too, honey,” Tyler's mom smiled.  “How are you liking being a dad?”

 

“It's been interesting,” Ethan chuckled.  “But it's.  Yeah.  It's a pretty incredible feeling to hold a tiny person that you helped bring into the world.”

 

“I remember that feeling well,” she nodded.  “So, when can I meet my granddaughter?”

 

“Mark's mom has her right now, but you can go on in the living room.”

 

Tyler's parents went into the living room and Tyler wrapped his arms around Ethan.

 

Ethan put his hands on Tyler's forearms and looked up at him.

 

Tyler shook his head.  “I'm so in love with you.”

 

Ethan blushed.  “And you still give me butterflies when you say stuff like that.”

 

Tyler leaned down and kissed him softly.

 

Ethan pulled away after a couple seconds and leaned his forehead on Tyler's chest.

 

“Hey...”

 

Ethan shook his head.

 

Tyler hugged him tighter.  “Okay.  It's okay.”

  
  


* * *

 

Ethan sat by Tyler's mom later that night.  “So…  You're okay with Tyler being married to me, right?”

 

“Of course, honey.”

 

“And you're okay with him also being with Mark?”

 

She nodded.  “Tyler's happy.  So I can't be mad about that.  And we love you and Mark.  You're both good for him in different ways.  It seems to be balancing out well.”

 

“It is,” Ethan fiddled with his socks.  “My mom doesn't feel the same way about this whole thing.”

 

Tyler's mom sighed.  “Yeah, Tyler's mentioned that.  I'm really sorry, sweetie.  That must be hard.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “Every time I think we're making progress, she just.  Throws another bomb at me.  I…  I want my mom to be happy with how my life is.  Because I'm happy.  But even if she doesn't like it, I just wish she would still be my mom.  I miss my mom.  It doesn't feel like I have a mom anymore.”

 

“Oh, honey…” she hugged him.  “I know that it's probably not much of a consolation, but you can always talk to me.”

 

Ethan sniffled.  “Thank you.  That actually means a lot to me.”

 

She smiled and rubbed his back.

 

“And thank you for your son.”

 

She chuckled.  “Thank you for loving my son.  You should hear the way he talks about you when we talk on the phone, Ethan.”

  
Ethan smiled a little.  “He's never short on words, is he?”


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning: in this chapter Ethan's depression is talked about again

Ethan, Tyler, Mark, and the parents sat around the living room after Ethan had put Lexi to bed.

 

“Is it okay if I ask some questions about how your relationship works?” Tyler's mom asked.

 

Tyler nodded.  “Of course.”

 

“Do all of you sleep in the same bed?  Or do you have separate beds?”

 

“Well, Ethan and Tyler have their own bedroom, and I have my own bedroom.  We used to switch off.  Some nights they'd sleep in their own room.  Sometimes I'd get one of them for the night.  Sometimes we'd all three sleep in their room.  Lately we've only all been sleeping in the same bed.  Ethan's always in the middle because he's spoiled,” Mark winked at him.

 

Ethan laughed.  “Yeah, we have a really great system going for sleeping right now.  And thankfully Lexi's been sticking with it.  I always record my videos at night, so Mark and Tyler go to bed a few hours before me.  So they get some time alone.  I put Lexi to sleep somewhere in there, then I join the boys in bed.  When Lex wakes up in the middle of the night, Tyler takes care of her then comes back to bed.  Mark's the first one up in the morning, so he feeds Lexi and then puts her back to sleep and goes to work on his videos.  So Tyler and I get some time alone.  Then after a while, Mark comes back to bed with me and Tyler gets up and makes breakfast.”

 

“Wow,” Tyler's mom nodded.  “That's quite an elaborate system.  It seems like a great idea.”

 

Tyler smiled.  “It's worked out well so far.  We all get time with each other one on one, and we get to cuddle all together while we sleep.”

 

“It's wonderful to see how happy you all are with one another,” Mark's mom smiled.

 

Mark looked between Ethan and Tyler.  “We are.”

 

Ethan looked at Tyler after a while and tapped his shoulder.

 

“What's up?”

 

“Is it okay if I go to bed now?” Ethan whispered.

 

“Of course, baby.”

 

Ethan nodded as he stood up and started to walk away.

 

“Hey, come back here for a second.”

 

Ethan turned around.

 

Tyler took his hand and kissed it.  “I love you, okay?  Yell if you need me.”

 

“Love you too, Tyler,” Ethan smiled a little and went upstairs.

 

* * *

 

After a while, everyone else started to go up to bed until only Tyler and his mom were left in the living room.

 

“I feel so sorry for poor Ethan about his mother,” Tyler's mom sighed.

 

“It really sucks.  It hurts him a lot.”

 

“He and I talked about it earlier.  Poor thing started crying.  Broke my heart.”

 

Tyler sighed deeply.  “Yeah, Ethan's been…  having trouble again lately.”

 

“Again?”

 

“Yeah.  After we lost Liam, Ethan was inconsolable.  For months he basically wasn't living.  I had to literally force food down his throat.  He lost so much weight that he looked like a skeleton.  It was so hard to watch.  I just wanted to help him, but I couldn't.  So I was pretty messed up then too.  Because I lost a baby and my husband that day.”

 

Tyler's mom put her hand on his shoulder.

 

“It got to the point where one day I came home from work and found him in the bathroom with a knife.  So, I locked up every single sharp thing in the house.  And after that, every day when I came home from work, I had to brace myself in case I found my husband dead.”

 

Tyler's mom wiped her eyes.  “I had no idea, Tyler…”

 

“It's not something we bring up.  Ever.”

 

She hugged him tightly.

 

“So, lately he's been struggling again.  But this time, he's actually talking to me about it.  Whenever he has a bad feeling, he'll come to me and sit in my lap and tell me everything going on in his head.  Which can get sort of scary, but I'd definitely rather this than the alternative.  Especially since it seems to help him a lot to talk it out with me.”

 

“Poor thing.  Do you have any idea if there's something specific triggering his feelings?”

 

Tyler shrugged.  “I think his mom has a lot to do with it.  He's also told me that he's still really scared about being a dad.  He's still scared that something will go wrong and we'll lose this baby too.”

 

Tyler's mom sighed.

 

“The strangest thing he's talked to me about, though, is he keeps having a feeling that I'm going to leave him.  Which is ridiculous.”

 

“You could never.”

 

“That's exactly what I told him,” Tyler nodded.  “He said that he just can't shake the feeling that I'm going to get sick of taking care of him and his problems and I'm going to up and leave.  It was one of the most gut wrenching conversations I've ever had with him, but it's probably my favorite.  I don't think our bond has ever been stronger.  Before he would have never told me about those feelings of his, but now he trusts me enough to talk to me about it.  And that makes me really happy. So, I told him that.  And I told him that there isn't a force in the universe strong enough to take me from him.  That I don't care how far down he falls, I will always be there to pull him back up.  That everything in the world could come crumbling down around us, but I'd be okay as long as I had him,” Tyler sniffled.  “Man, I can't talk about this without crying.”

 

His mom hugged him and rubbed his arm.  “It's okay, sweetie.  You don't have to say anymore.”

 

Tyler wiped his eyes.  “I just love him so much.  And I will do anything for him.  He is my world.  I could write novels upon novels about my love for Ethan.”

 

“I know,” she smiled softly.  “I know.  And though he may not have the same way with words as you do, I know he feels the same.”

  
Tyler chuckled.  “Yeah.  I know.”


	48. Chapter 48

Tyler went upstairs after talking to his mom and found Ethan sitting on their bed alone.  “Hey, you.  You okay?”

 

Ethan looked over and blinked quickly.  “Yeah.  Sorry.  I spaced out.  I'm tired.”

 

“Then go to sleep, babe,” Tyler got into his pajamas.

 

“I was asleep, but then Lex woke up.  So I had to change her and get her back to sleep.”

 

Tyler climbed into bed.  “Okay.  Where's Mark?”

 

“He said he doesn't know how late he'll be up talking to his mom, so he's going to sleep in his room so he doesn't disturb us whenever he goes to bed,” Ethan laid down.

 

“Gotcha,” Tyler pulled the covers up.

 

“Been awhile since we've been alone all night.”

 

Tyler hugged Ethan tightly.  “It has.”

 

Ethan ran his fingers through Tyler's hair.

 

Tyler kissed his nose.  “What're you thinking about?”

 

“You.”

 

Tyler smiled.  “What about me?”

 

“About how much I love you,” Ethan smiled and ran his hand down Tyler's arm.

 

“Aww.  Baby.”

 

Ethan rolled his eyes.  “And that I don't know what I would do without you.  You're the only thing that keeps me grounded.”

 

Tyler kissed his forehead.  “Then it's a good thing I won't be going anywhere any time soon.”

 

Ethan nodded slightly and bit his lol.

 

“Don't, Ethan.  I told you.  There is no way in hell I'm leaving you.”

 

“I know, but...”

 

“Shh,” Tyler kissed him.  “If my words won't convince you, maybe I can find another way.”

 

“H-how?” Ethan shivered as Tyler's hand ran down his side.

 

Tyler pulled Ethan tight against his body.  He kissed him again and squeezed his ass.  “You tell me.  How do you want me?”

 

“Fuck.  I don't care.  Any way.  Just do something.”

 

Tyler shook his head and rocked his hips into him gently.  “It's up to you.”

 

“Tyler.  Please.  It's been too long.  Just do something.  Anything.”

 

“Okay, okay,” Tyler laid Ethan down on his back.  He straddled him and took Ethan's shirt off.

 

“This is probably my favorite view,” Ethan looked Tyler up and down.

 

Tyler smirked and kissed him deeply.  He then kissed at his jaw before moving down his neck, down his chest and stomach.  He stopped when he got to Ethan's waistband of his pajama pants.

 

Ethan reached down to untie them.

 

Tyler smacked his hand away.

 

Ethan pouted.

 

Tyler re-situated himself between Ethan's legs and started rubbing circles on his hip bones with his thumbs. 

 

“Come on…” Ethan whined.

 

“Hey, we aren't in any hurry.  Let me take care of you, baby.”

 

“...fine.”

 

Tyler shifted Ethan's pajama pants down a little so he could suck a mark on each of his hips.

 

Ethan moaned softly.

 

“We're going to need to be quiet, baby,” Tyler said as he pulled Ethan's pants and underwear down just enough.  “We have guests.”

 

“Fuck.”

 

Tyler chuckled and kept his hand over Ethan's mouth while he worked.

 

* * *

 

Tyler came back after brushing his teeth.

 

Ethan was still panting.

 

Tyler laid back down and cuddled him.  “You did good, baby.”

 

“Fuck, so did you,” Ethan hugged him tightly.

 

Tyler kissed his head.

 

“I love you.”

 

“I love you too.  Did that do any convincing?”

 

Ethan chuckled.  “Yeah.  But no.  I don't know.  I know you would never leave.  But there's still a voice in my head trying to tell me otherwise.”

  
“Don't listen to that voice.  Just listen to mine,” Tyler rubbed his back.  “I love you more than anything in the world, and I will never, ever leave your side.”


	49. Chapter 49

Mark went into Tyler and Ethan's room in the morning, holding Lexi.  “Morning, babes.  Somebody wanted to see you guys.”

 

Ethan yawned and sat up.  “Aww.  “Morning,” he reached his arms out.

 

Mark handed Lexi to him, climbed onto the bed, and cuddled Tyler.

 

Tyler smiled at him.  “Morning.”

 

Mark kissed him softly.  “Hi.”

 

Tyler laughed and sat up.  “Hi, baby girl.  Did you sleep good?”

 

Ethan kissed Lexi's nose.  “She looks like she did.  Do you want to say hi to Papa, sweetie?”

 

“Papa wants to say hi to her,” Tyler took Lexi from Ethan and kissed her head.

 

Ethan smiled and grabbed his phone.  He cuddled by Mark and took a picture of all four of them.  “Oh, that's adorable,” he posted it:

 

‘Best kind of morning.  Hands down.  Love these guys.  I have the best family.’

 

“How'd you guys sleep?” Mark asked as he stroked Ethan's hair.

 

“Good.  Felt weird without you though.  I've gotten so used to all of us sleeping in here,” Ethan said.

 

Tyler nodded.  “How late were you talking to your mom?”

 

“Not too late, actually,” Mark answered.  “She got tired, and so did Chica.”

 

Ethan yawned.  “I really don't want to talk to my mom today.”

 

“It'll be okay, babe,” Tyler laid Lexi down on the bed and held her hand.

 

“If I can't get through to her this time, then that's it.  I'm done.  I'm cutting off contact with her.”

 

“Let's just see what happens, Eth.  She might be fine.”

 

“I hope so,” Ethan sighed.  “I miss my mom.”

 

“I know, baby.”

 

Mark kissed his head.  “Don't forget that we're here for you.”

 

“I know.” Ethan turned around to hug Mark.

 

“Just tell her how you feel.  Be assertive.  You're an adult.  This is your life, and you're happy,” Mark ran his hand through Ethan's hair again.

 

Ethan nodded.  “Yeah.  I know.”

 

Tyler reached over and squeezed Ethan's hand.

 

“Love you guys,” Ethan said.

 

* * *

 

When Ethan's mom rang the doorbell later, Ethan opened it and went outside, closing the door behind him.  “Hi.”

 

“Hi.  How are you?”

 

“Good.  Really good.  Um.  Before I let you in, I want to talk to you.”

 

Ethan's mom nodded.

 

“I know you don't like that I'm married to a man.  I know that you especially don't like that we're in a relationship with another man-”

 

“It's not-”

 

“Please don't interrupt me,” Ethan sighed.  “Mom, I'm happy.  I'm so so so happy.  And I want you to be happy for me.  But even if you're not happy about my choices, I'd still like to have a relationship with you.  I'm an adult now, and you need to respect that I've made these choices because they make me happy, Mom.”

 

Ethan's mom sighed heavily.  “I just don't understand.”

 

“You don't have to understand.  All you need to understand is that those two men love me so freaking much.  And I love them.  And we're happy.  That's all that matters.”

 

“I…  I don't...”

 

“Please, Mom.  Please,” Ethan started crying.  “I want you in my life.  I want you to love me again.  Please.  I want my mom back.”

 

“I want to meet my granddaughter.”

 

“Are you going to try to be part of my life again?  Or are you just here because of the baby?”

 

“Ethan, I can't support your decisions.”

 

“Again, I'm not asking you to support them.  I'm asking you to support me.  I'm asking-  No.  No.  I'll go as far as begging.  I'm begging you to be a mother and love your son whether you like what I've done or not.  And if you can't do that.  If you can't look past what you don't approve of, then leave and don't ever come back.”

 

“I'm sorry, Ethan,” his mom turned around and got back in her car.

 

“Mom…”

 

She shook her head and pulled out of the driveway.

  
Ethan sat down on the front step and sobbed as she drove away.


	50. Chapter 50

Ethan went back inside after a few minutes.

 

Tyler looked up at him.  “Hey…  You okay?”

 

Ethan shrugged.  “She left.”

 

Tyler stood up and hugged him tightly.  “Oh, baby.  I’m so sorry.”

 

“It’s fine.  I’ll be fine.”

 

Tyler kissed his head.

 

“If she doesn’t want to be here, then so be it.  I don’t need her.”

 

“I love you.”

 

“I love you too.  Let’s get set up for Lexi’s party.”

 

* * *

 

Mark sat down with Ethan after the party.

 

Ethan leaned on his shoulder.

 

Mark wrapped his arm around him.  “I’m sorry about your mom, babe.”

 

“Thank you.  It’s okay, though.  I’ll be fine,” Ethan sighed.

 

“Hey.  So.  I want to run something by you.”

 

“...okay.  What is it?”

 

“I want to go away for a week.  Just you and me.  While we have the chance.  How would you feel about that?” Mark rubbed his arm.

 

“That would be nice,” Ethan nodded.  “Where would we go?”

 

“Anywhere.  Where would you want to go?”

 

“I’m not sure.  What about like a cabin or something?  Somewhere with snow?  That could be fun.”

 

Mark smiled.  “Okay.  We can do that.  I was thinking we could go in two weeks?”

 

Ethan nodded.  “What about Ty and Lexi?”

 

“I already talked to Tyler.  He said it was a good idea.  And his mom said she would come back and help out with Lex.”

 

“Okay.  Let’s go find an actual place to go.  I’m excited now.  I don’t get to spend much time alone with you.  Especially lately.”

 

“It’ll be fun,” Mark kissed his cheek.

 

* * *

 

Tyler knocked on the bathroom door when Ethan was taking a shower.  “Hey, mind if I join you?”

 

“Come on in.”

 

Tyler got in the shower with him and smiled.  “How’re you doing?”

 

“Surprisingly okay.”

 

“That’s good, I guess.”

 

Ethan shrugged and nodded.  “Wash my hair?”

 

“Of course,” Tyler grabbed the shampoo.  “So, Mark’s taking you on vacation, huh?”

 

“Yeah.  Should be fun.  Although it is kind of weird.  Considering Mark never takes a break.”

 

Tyler nodded and worked the shampoo through Ethan’s hair.  “He’s gonna take me on a trip after that too, apparently.”

 

“Huh.  That’s weird.  He’s been acting weird, right?  It’s not just me noticing it, is it?”

 

“Yeah, no.  I’ve noticed too.  It’s like he’s drifting further apart, but at the same time getting closer?  Does that make sense?”

 

“Yeah.  It’s weird.  Something’s up.”

 

Tyler shrugged and rinsed Ethan’s hair.  “Guess we’ll see.”


	51. Chapter 51

Mark and Ethan got to their cabin a couple weeks later.

 

Ethan went inside and looked around the cabin.  It wasn't big.  There was a queen sized bed, a dresser, a loveseat, a small counter with a mini fridge and microwave, the fireplace, and then a small bathroom.  “This is really nice.  Very warm and homey.”

 

“It is,” Mark took Ethan's hand and pulled him closer to him.  He put his hands on Ethan's hips and kissed him deeply.

 

Ethan moaned softly.

 

“I want you, baby.”

 

“Can’t we get settled first?”

 

Mark kissed his neck.

 

“Mark.  Come on.  Let's get our stuff settled.  We can get a fire started in the fireplace.  Put on some music.  Take it slow…  It'll be romantic.”

 

Mark chuckled.  “Okay.  Whatever you want.”

 

Ethan smiled.  “Start the fire.”

 

Mark kissed his head and went over to the fireplace.

 

Ethan put their duffel bags on top of the dresser and changed into some sweatpants.  He then got out his phone and turned on some music before sitting on the little couch.

 

Mark got the fire going and put on pajama pants.  “This is cozy,” he said as he joined Ethan on the couch.

 

“Very cozy,” Ethan moved closer to him.

 

Mark wrapped his arm around Ethan and watched the fire.

 

Ethan leaned his head on Mark’s shoulder.

 

After a few minutes, Mark leaned down to kiss him softly.

 

Ethan kissed back and closed his eyes.

 

Mark cupped Ethan's cheek.

 

Ethan moved to straddle Mark’s lap and kissed him again.

 

Mark ran his hands up Ethan's back.

 

“Mm,” Ethan ran his hands through Mark’s hair.

 

“Should we move to the bed?” Mark asked after a while of messing around on the couch.

 

Ethan nodded and climbed onto the bed and laid on his back.

  
Mark followed and straddled him.  “Now let me show you how much I love you.”


	52. Chapter 52

Ethan laid on his back, Mark rubbing Ethan's chest.

 

“What are you thinking about?” Mark asked him.

 

Ethan turned to look at him and smiled.  “You.”

 

Mark kissed his collarbone.

 

“I'm really happy I get to spend this time with you.  We don't ever get to do this.”

 

“Yeah,” Mark nodded.  “This will be a fun week.”

 

Ethan grinned and straddled Mark.

 

Mark reached up and pushed Ethan's hair back.  “I think I'm falling even more in love with you.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“So deeply in love with you, Ethan.”

 

Ethan leaned down and kissed him.

 

Mark kissed back and held Ethan tightly against him.

 

* * *

 

“Can I ask you something?” Ethan asked as he and Mark sat on the couch later that night.

 

“Shoot.”

 

“You said you fell in love with me when you first met me, right?”

 

“Well.  Kinda.  I had a crush on you for a while and then it developed into actual feelings,” Mark wrapped his arm around him.

 

“When did that happen?”

 

“I don't know.  I guess I started getting really jealous when you were in the hospital after the peanut incident.”

 

“When did you fall in love with me?”

 

“Um…”

 

“What?” Ethan kissed his cheek.

 

“It's just…  It was after Liam…  When I followed you out into the hallway.  And I was holding you.  I just.  I realized I didn't ever want to let go.”

 

Ethan smiled a little and held Mark's arm.  “So…  That night.  That first night at your place.  When we…  Walk me through that.”

 

“What's with all the questions, babe?” Mark chuckled.

 

“We've just never had a chance to talk about stuff like this.  And I've just wondered about it all this time.”

 

“Okay.  Well.  Long story short.  I had an opportunity to be selfish for the night.  And so I took advantage of it.  And I took advantage of you.  And I shouldn't have,” Mark looked away.  “And I regret it.  A lot.”

 

“You…  You regret it?”

 

“I mean.  I obviously don't regret what came out of it.  But yeah.  I do regret that night.  I hurt Tyler, and I took advantage of you when you were in a rough place.”

 

Ethan shook his head.

 

“Okay, well what about you then?  What made you say yes to sleeping with me that night?”

 

Ethan sighed and shrugged.  “I was lonely.  Tyler and I hadn't…  connected at all in a long time.  And I needed the physical attention.  I needed the distraction.”

 

Mark bit his lip and nodded.

 

“So, I guess I sort of took advantage of you too.  But I don't regret it at all.  Because that's when I fell in love with you.”

 

“Baby…”

 

“Don't feel bad about it anymore, okay?  It's over and we're all fine.”

 

“Yeah.  Yeah, okay.  I guess.”

 

Ethan poked Mark's cheek.  “Kiss me?”

 

Mark rolled his eyes and kissed him.

 

Ethan smiled and hugged him.  “No regrets.”


	53. Chapter 53

Ethan and Mark got home from their vacation a week later.

 

Tyler greeted them at the door, holding Lexi.  “Hey, welcome home, boys.  We missed you.”

 

Ethan put his suitcase down and took Lexi from Tyler.  “Hi, baby!  Daddy missed you so much!”

 

“Nice to see you too, babe,” Tyler chuckled.

 

“Well, I'm glad to see you,” Mark leaned up to kiss Tyler.

 

Tyler smiled and kissed back.  “Did you guys have a good time?”

 

Mark nodded.  “It was a lot of fun.”

 

“It was,” Ethan swayed with Lexi.  “The cabin was awesome.  Super cozy.”

 

“Can't wait for my turn,” Tyler wrapped his arm around Mark.

 

“Where are you guys going again?” Ethan asked.

 

“San Diego.”

 

“That'll be fun.”

 

Mark nodded and went over to Ethan.  “Can I see Lex?”

 

“Of course,” Ethan handed her over to Mark and went to hug Tyler.

 

Tyler picked him up and kissed him.  “Missed you, baby.”

 

“Mm.  Missed you too.”

 

“Glad you had fun, though.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “We did.”

 

“Hey.  So.  Do you think we could go ‘talk' for a minute?” Tyler winked.

 

Ethan grinned.  “Yeah.”

 

“Mark, can you watch Lexi for a few minutes?  Ethan and I need to go, uh, talk about something.”

 

Mark rolled his eyes.  “Uh.  Yeah.  Sure.  You guys go knock yourselves out.”

 

“Thanks!” Tyler carried Ethan to their bedroom.

 

Mark sat down on the couch with Lexi.  “Guess it's just you and me, girl.”

* * *

 

 

Tyler dropped Ethan on the bed before closing the door.

 

Ethan giggled and pulled his shirt off.

 

Tyler took his own shirt off and tossed it on the floor.  “A week is too long without you, baby,” he said as he climbed on the bed and straddled Ethan's body.

 

“Mm, yeah.  How did you survive without my sweet love for a whole week?”

 

“Barely,” Tyler kissed him roughly.

 

Ethan groaned and pulled at Tyler's hair.

 

“When I'm finished with you, you won't be able to walk straight until Mark and I come back from our vacation.”

 

“Oh, is that so?”

 

“Mhmm,” Tyler ran his thumb over Ethan's cheekbone.

 

“Can't wait.”

* * *

 

 

Tyler went back into the living room after.

 

Mark looked up from feeding Lexi.  “Welcome back.”

 

“Sorry.  Took a little longer than we thought it would.  Ethan fell asleep,” Tyler sat down.

 

“Yeah, no.  It's fine.  Don't even worry about it,” Mark got up and took Lexi's bottle to the kitchen.

 

“Mark…” Tyler stood up and followed him.

 

“I'm gonna put Lexi to bed.”

 

“Here, I can do it.”

 

“No, it's fine.  You go back to your husband.  I can handle your baby.”

 

“Hey, I'm sorry we left you out earlier.”

 

“No, it's whatever.  I get it.  He's your husband and he'll always be more important.”

 

“Mark…”

 

“Just.  Stop,” Mark went and put Lexi in her crib.

 

“We aren't done talking,” Tyler said when Mark came back to the kitchen.

 

“Well, I am.”

 

“Come on, Mark.  What's going on with you?”

 

“I'm tired of feeling left out!  Okay?”

 

Tyler frowned.  “What are you talking about?  We always include you.”

 

“Yeah,” Mark sighed.  “You include me.”

 

Tyler leaned on the counter.  “Talk to me.”

 

“I don't know.  I guess I just feel like I'm always intruding on your lives.  I mean.  I knew going in that your marriage would have to come first.  And I know you guys include me a lot.  And I'm super grateful.  But all of this is yours.  It's your life.  Your marriage.  Your house.  Your baby.  I don't have anything here.  I just want more, I guess.”

 

“I'm really sorry you feel that way.  I had no idea.”

 

Mark shrugged.  “For a while I was thinking about leaving.  But I love you guys too much.  I couldn't leave.”

 

Tyler sighed.  “Come here,” he held out his arms.

 

Mark hugged him tightly.

 

“I'm sorry.  I don't want you to feel left out.  How do I make it better?” Tyler held him.

 

“I have one thing in mind.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“I want a baby with you.”

  
  



	54. Chapter 54

“You… want a baby with me?” Tyler raised his eyebrow.

 

“Just hear me out,” Mark got out his phone and showed him a picture.  “This is Finn.  He's two.  He's half Korean.  He's the sweetest little boy in the entire world.  And I want so badly to adopt him.”

 

Tyler put his arm around Mark’s waist.  “He's adorable.”

 

Mark smiled.  “Can't you just imagine us having a son?  Teaching him to ride a bike…  Playing football in the backyard…  Taking him to baseball games…  Him and Chica can be best friends.”

 

“I'd love that.”

 

“Yeah?” Mark grinned.

 

“Do you think we could handle two young kids, though?”

 

“Yeah, I think so.”

 

“Okay.  Then yeah.  I want to meet him first.  But, I'd love to have a son with you.”

 

Mark laughed and hugged him.  “You're the best.”

 

Tyler grinned and kissed him. 

 

“Mm.  I think we were always meant to have a son.”

 

“Yeah.  You have to tell Ethan though.”

 

Mark nodded.  “Yeah.  Do you think he'll be upset?”

 

“I don't know.”.

 

Mark shrugged.  “I'll talk to him.”

 

Tyler kissed his forehead.  “I love you.”

 

“I love you too, Ty.”

 

“Please talk to me if you're ever feeling left out again, okay?  I'll do everything I can to make it better.”

 

Mark nodded and smiled.  “That's why I love you so much.”

 

Tyler chuckled and kissed him.  “Wanna make out on the couch like teenagers?”

 

“Is that even a question?” Mark squeezed Tyler's ass with a wink and turned to go into the living room.

* * *

 

 

Ethan went into the living room in the morning to find Mark and Tyler asleep on the couch in their underwear.  “Uh.  Guys.  Wake up.”

 

Mark looked up.  “Mm.  Hey.  Morning, baby.  Tyler.  Wake up.”

 

Tyler whined and opened his eyes.  

 

“Morning, sunshine.  We fell asleep here.”

 

Tyler chuckled.  “Guess we did.”

 

Mark laughed and kissed him.

 

Ethan rolled his eyes.  “You kids have fun last night?”

 

“Mm.  So much fun,” Tyler laughed.

 

“Don't worry.  We'll clean up after ourselves,” Mark got up.

 

“What the hell did you guys do?”

 

“Each other,” Mark winked.  “All over the floor.  Seriously.  Don't walk over here.”

 

Ethan nodded.  “Got it.  I'm going to get Lex.  You guys…  Compose yourselves.”

 

Tyler shook his head and sat up, still laughing.

 

“Oh my god, you're a mess,” Mark looked him up and down.

 

Tyler looked at Mark.  “So are you.”

 

Mark laughed and kissed him.

 

“Let's get cleaned up.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Eth.  Can I talk to you about something?” Mark asked later that day.

 

“What's up?”

 

“Well.  I want to be a dad.  Like more than anything.  And there's this little boy.  His name’s Finn.  And Tyler and I are going to adopt him.”

 

“Hold on.  What?”

 

Mark pulled out his phone and showed Ethan a picture of Finn.  “He's two.  Look how cute he is.”

 

“That is a cute kid,” Ethan nodded slowly.  “You and Tyler are adopting him?”

 

“Yeah…  Is that okay?”

 

“Yeah.  I mean.  I'm just surprised, I guess.  I didn't know you wanted a kid,” Ethan held Lexi's hand as he held her.

 

Mark shrugged.  “Yeah.  I don't know.  It wasn't until more recently.  I love Lexi so much, and just having her around made me want one of my own.  And then I met Finn.  And now all I can think about is him being my son.”

 

Ethan smiled softly.  “It's an overwhelming feeling, isn't it?”

 

Mark nodded.  “Are you upset that I asked Tyler to be his other dad?” he asked quietly after a few minutes.

 

“No.  I mean, I guess a little.  But not really.  It makes sense.”

 

“Okay.  And you're sure you're okay with it?”

 

“Yeah.  It'll be weird.  But, if it's what you want, then yeah.  I'm all for it.”

 

Mark moved close to him and kissed his cheek.  “Thanks.”

 

Ethan smiled.  “Love you.”

 

“You too, baby.”

 

Tyler came back from showering and sat on Ethan's other side.  “Hey.  Can I snuggle my little girl?”

 

“You heard him, Eth.  He wants to snuggle you,” Mark teased.

 

Ethan rolled his eyes and punched his shoulder playfully before handing Lexi to Tyler.

 

Tyler smiled and held Lexi on his chest.

 

Ethan leaned on Mark and kept looking at Tyler.  “He's so handsome when he's holding a baby.”

 

Mark rubbed Ethan's arm.  “He is.”

 

Ethan sniffed.

 

“Hey, what's wrong, lovebug?” Mark hugged his shoulders.

 

“Nothing.  I'm just picturing him playing with her and Finn and it makes me really happy to think about.”

 

“Aww.  Babe,” Mark kissed his cheek.

 

“I can't wait to meet him,” Ethan grinned.


End file.
